Incorporation of Bevacizumab in the Primary Treatment of Ovarian Cancer

Incorporating bevacizumab in a chemotherapy regimen (7.5 mg/kg every 3 weeks for five or six cycles) and then continuing bevacizumab alone for a total of 12 months of treatment extended progression-free survival in advanced and high-risk early-stage ovarian cancer. Epithelial ovarian cancer and related cancers lead to 15,000 deaths in the United States annually, representing the fifth leading cause of death from cancer among women. 1 The poor prognosis is usually attributed to advanced stage at diagnosis and inadequate chemotherapy. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiogenesis are important promoters of ovarian-cancer progression. 2 – 6 Both correlate directly with the extent of disease and inversely with progression-free survival 7 – 9 and overall survival, 8 , 10 – 13 often independently of known prognostic factors. 7 – 10 , 12 , 13 Bevacizumab, a humanized VEGF-neutralizing monoclonal antibody, inhibits tumor angiogenesis 14 and has shown single-agent activity in phase 2 epithelial . . .