Trials of bevacizumab in breast cancer – a safety review

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the significant gains in the treatment of breast cancer over the last decade, further improvements in survival using traditional chemotherapeutic agents have begun to plateau. Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting vascular endothelial growth factor, has provided promise for continued gains in therapy efficacy.

Areas covered: The authors review Phase III data concerning the safety of bevacizumab in breast cancer, summarize data on efficacy and discuss the risk:benefit ratio of the drug. The data for this review were obtained by searching in the PubMed database. This review enables the reader to overview current knowledge on the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in breast cancer.

Expert opinion: Insight into complex risk–benefit calculations for bevacizumab is missing. In unselected patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, the risk of serious side effects of bevacizumab overshadows the benefit of the drug. However, increased response rates and progression-free survival in the majority of Phase III trials suggest that the drug is of benefit in a subgroup of patients. Although requiring close monitoring, most side effects are manageable. Reliable, validated predictive biomarkers are of utmost importance to improve the likelihood of clinical benefit.

Keywords::

• antiangiogenic therapy
• bevacizumab
• breast cancer
• safety

Notes

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