Is bevacizumab safe and effective in colorectal cancer?

This paper studied the safety and effectiveness of bevacizumab (Avastin) in colorectal cancer. 

Bevacizumab is a drug that works by inhibiting growth of tumors. While studies have shown that bevacizumab is effective, some studies report an increased risk of high blood pressure, protein in urine and bleeding. 

The authors analyzed 10 studies of bevacizumab including 6977 patients. All patients were treated with chemotherapy. 3535 patients were also treated with bevacizumab, and were compared to 3442 patients not receiving bevacizumab.

Overall survival (period of time that patient survives) tended to be longer in patients receiving bevacizumab. The risk of a short overall survival time was reduced by 15% in patients receiving bevacizumab. Bevacizumab also led to longer progression free survival (the time before cancer gets worse). The risk of a short time to disease progression was reduced by 38% in patients receiving bevacizumab. The tumor decreased in size in 33.5% of patients receiving bevacizumab and 28.3% in patients not receiving bevacizumab.

Patients who took bevacizumab were 5 times more likely to have high blood pressure, 3.9 times more likely to have protein in the urine, and 3.9 times more likely to have gastrointestinal perforation (a hole through the wall of the digestive system) than patients who did not receive bevacizumab. Patients who received bevacizumab were 1.93 times more likely to have bleeding than patients who did not receive bevacizumab. Thrombosis (formation of a clump of blood that can obstruct blood vessels) was 1.69 times more likely to occur in patients receiving bevacizumab than patients who did not. There was a low occurrence of serious side effects.

The authors concluded that bevacizumab is safe and effective for use in colorectal cancer. 

Talk to your doctor about receiving bevacizumab for colorectal cancer.