HOME  >  Online journal

Vol.53 No.3 contents

Japanese/English

Full Text of PDF (268K) Article in Japanese

- Original Article -

Bevacizumab Combination Chemotherapy in Clinical Practice for Advanced Non-squamous Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Toshie Niki¹, Takako Okuyama¹, Junji Uchida¹, Kazumi Nishino¹, Toru Kumagai¹, Fumio Imamura^1
1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Japan

---

Objective. Combination therapy with bevacizumab (BEV; BEV chemotherapy) improves the response rates and prolongs the progression-free survival (PFS) when it is given as first-line chemotherapy for advanced non-squamous (Non-Sq) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated the efficacy and safety of BEV chemotherapy for Non-Sq NSCLC, with special attention to the patients who received BEV chemotherapy in multiple lines (multi-line cases). Method. Between November 2009 and March 2012, 78 patients with advanced or recurrent NSCLC were treated with BEV chemotherapy at our hospital. Among them, 32 patients underwent BEV chemotherapy in multiple lines (multi-line cases). The efficacy and safety of the BEV chemotherapy in these patients were analyzed. The last follow-up for the data was September 2012. Results. The response rate and the PFS in the patients who received first-line BEV chemotherapy (1^st BEV) were 58% and 178 days in the 78 patients, respectively. Grade ≥3 hematological toxicities were observed in 50% of cases, and grade ≥3 non-hematological toxicities appeared in 32% of the patients. On the other hand, grade ≥3 hematological toxicities and grade ≥3 non-hematological toxicities developed in 81% and 28% of cases, respectively, in the second-line BEV chemotherapy (2^nd BEV) group. The response rate and the PFS in the 32 multi-line patients were 50% and 145 days in the 1^st BEV group, and 28% and 99 days in the 2^nd BEV group, respectively. Conclusions. The efficacy and safety of the BEV chemotherapy as the first-line treatment for NSCLC reported in clinical trials was reproduced in the clinical practice. Additionally, the integration of BEV into cytotoxic chemotherapy was suggested to be effective and safe in subsequent lines of treatment, although clinical trials will be necessary to confirm this finding.
key words: Non-small cell lung cancer, Bevacizumab, Combination chemotherapy

Received: April 14, 2013
Accepted: May 27, 2013

JJLC 53 (3): 215-219, 2013