Sustained bevacizumab aids colon cancer survival: study

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Colorectal cancer patients who continued treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin; Roche Holding AG) even after their cancer progressed lived longer than those who went off the drug, according to an observational analysis released on Thursday.

The findings came from follow-up of a trial involving more than 1,000 patients with advanced colorectal cancer who initially received bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy.

The analysis showed that patients who continued a bevacizumab-based regimen after their cancer worsened had a 59% decrease in the risk of death compared to those who stopped therapy or switched to a regimen that did not include bevacizumab.

Median survival after the first disease progression was 16.3 months for patients who continued an bevacizumab regimen, 8.5 months for those who received a regimen without bevacizumab, and 5.2 months for those who stopped therapy altogether.

Adverse side effects associated with bevacizumab included gastrointestinal perforations (0.2%), thromboembolic events (1.9%) and bleeding (3.7%).

Updated efficacy and safety data, including results for progression-free survival and overall survival, will be reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in early June.

Roche has just completed enrollment in a Phase III trial evaluating the continued use of a bevacizumab regimen, compared to chemotherapy alone, after progression following first-line use of bevacizumab plus chemotherapy.

Bevacizumab is not currently approved for maintenance therapy.

Sandra Horning, global head of clinical oncology development at Roche's Genentech unit, said the observational findings support the idea that bevacizumab is effective in multiple lines of therapy.

"The hypothesis needs to be tested in a rigorous clinical trial," she said.

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