Bevacizumab Plus Temozolomide Produces Low Response in Newly-Diagnosed Glioblastoma

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

Combination bevacizumab (BV) with radiotherapy and temozolomide (TMZ) is safe and feasible in patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), but low response rates do not favor a neoadjuvant approach, according to a recent study published in The Oncologist.

Myra van Linde, MD, and fellow researchers from the VU Medical Center in The Netherlands observed 19 patients, with six after biopsy and 13 after resection.

“We hypothesized that a neoadjuvant treatment strategy for patients with newly-diagnosed GBM using chemoradiotherapy plus BV would improve respectability and thus survival,” the authors noted.

In their phase II trial, patients received radiotherapy with combination BV and TMZ on days 1, 14, and 28, followed by six monthly cycles of TMZ on days 1 to 5.

They found that the overall response rate was 26 percent, with three who had a complete response after resection and two who had complete response after resection followed by chemoradiation with BV. Median overall survival was 16 months which was similar to a matched control group that received standard chemoradiotherapy at the VU Medical Center.