A prospective cohort study on the safety and efficacy of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy in Japanese patients with relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer

Objective: this prospective cohort study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy in Japanese patients with relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Methods: in this study, 40 Japanese patients with relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer selected to receive bevacizumab with chemotherapy were enrolled. Patients in poor general condition were excluded. Each patient was monitored prospectively for adverse events, administration status, disease status and survival. Treatment was continued until intolerable adverse events or disease progression. The primary endpoint was safety. Results: bevacizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy was performed for 30 patients (median cycle; 16.5), while bevacizumab plus non-platinum chemotherapy was performed for 10 patients (median cycle; 5.5). Among bevacizumab-related adverse events, hypertension occurred in 80% of patients, proteinuria in 83%, mucositis in 25%, bleeding in 20%, thromboembolic events in 5.0% and fistula in 2.5%. Gastrointestinal perforation or other life-threatening lethal adverse events were not observed. Response rate and median progression-free survival were 73% and 19.3 months for patients with bevacizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy, and 30% and 3.9 months for patients with bevacizumab plus non-platinum chemotherapy, respectively. There was no correlation between response rate and occurrence of adverse events such as hypertension or proteinuria. Conclusion: bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy was tolerable and effective for Japanese patients with relapsed ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer or primary peritoneal cancer. Hypertension and proteinuria are frequently occurred and managed properly for continuing treatment.