Bevacizumab alone and in combination with irinotecan in recurrent glioblastoma.
Parole chiave
Astratto
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the efficacy of bevacizumab, alone and in combination with irinotecan, in patients with recurrent glioblastoma in a phase II, multicenter, open-label, noncomparative trial.
METHODS
One hundred sixty-seven patients were randomly assigned to receive bevacizumab 10 mg/kg alone or in combination with irinotecan 340 mg/m(2) or 125 mg/m(2) (with or without concomitant enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs, respectively) once every 2 weeks. Primary end points were 6-month progression-free survival and objective response rate, as determined by independent radiology review. Secondary end points included safety and overall survival.
RESULTS
In the bevacizumab-alone and the bevacizumab-plus-irinotecan groups, estimated 6-month progression-free survival rates were 42.6% and 50.3%, respectively; objective response rates were 28.2% and 37.8%, respectively; and median overall survival times were 9.2 months and 8.7 months, respectively. There was a trend for patients who were taking corticosteroids at baseline to take stable or decreasing doses over time. Of the patients treated with bevacizumab alone or bevacizumab plus irinotecan, 46.4% and 65.8%, respectively, experienced grade > or = 3 adverse events, the most common of which were hypertension (8.3%) and convulsion (6.0%) in the bevacizumab-alone group and convulsion (13.9%), neutropenia (8.9%), and fatigue (8.9%) in the bevacizumab-plus-irinotecan group. Intracranial hemorrhage was noted in two patients (2.4%) in the bevacizumab-alone group (grade 1) and in three patients (3.8%) patients in the bevacizumab-plus-irinotecan group (grades 1, 2, and 4, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS
Bevacizumab, alone or in combination with irinotecan, was well tolerated and active in recurrent glioblastoma.
