Bevacizumab improves survival in HER2-positive metastatic disease
Bevacizumab (Avastin) improved progression-free survival (PFS) when added to standard treatment in a study of more than 400 women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.
That finding, which emerged from the AVEREL trial, adds another wrinkle in the ongoing controversy regarding use of bevacizumab in breast cancer treatment.
For the primary endpoint of investigator- assessed PFS, conducted at a median follow-up of 26 months, the addition of bevacizumab resulted in a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.82 (P = 0.0775), compared with treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel alone. This difference was not statistically significant. Median investigator-assessed PFS was 16.5 months with bevacizumab versus 13.7 months without it.
In an assessment by an independent review committee (IRC), however, a significant improvement in PFS was seen with the addition of bevacizumab (hazard ratio, 0.72; P = 0.0162). Median IRC-assessed PFS was 16.8 months with bevacizumab, compared with 13.9 months without the drug.
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