A Single Institution’s Experience with Bevacizumab in Combination with Cytotoxic Chemotherapy in Progressive Malignant Glioma
2008

Bevacizumab with Chemotherapy for Malignant Glioma

Sample size: 36 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Tina Mayer, Jill Lacy, Joachim Baehring

Primary Institution: Yale University School of Medicine

Hypothesis

Can bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy improve outcomes in patients with progressive malignant glioma?

Conclusion

The study confirms that bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy is effective and safe for treating progressive malignant glioma, although the treatment outcomes were lower than previously reported.

Supporting Evidence

  • Median time to treatment failure was 16 weeks.
  • Median overall survival was 32 weeks.
  • Toxicities included arterial and venous thromboses and CNS hemorrhages.

Takeaway

Doctors gave a medicine called bevacizumab to help patients with a type of brain cancer, and it worked pretty well, but some patients had side effects.

Methodology

Retrospective review of 36 patients treated with bevacizumab after prior therapies.

Potential Biases

Patients on anticoagulation were included, which may have increased the risk of hemorrhage.

Limitations

The study involved an unselected patient population with many having received multiple prior treatments.

Participant Demographics

Median age was 50, with 22 having progressive GBM and 14 with other gliomas.

Statistical Information

Confidence Interval

[14.2–17.8, 95% C.I.] for TTF; [27.2–36.6, 95% C.I.] for OS

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