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Bevacizumab Provides Promising Add-on to Chemoradiation in Pancreatic Cancer: Presented at ASCO-GI

By Roberta Friedman, PhD

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- January 26, 2004 -- Phase I data show possibilities for combining bevacizumab with radiation and capecitabine in inoperable, advanced pancreatic cancer.

Results on 24 patients treated with bevacizumab for pancreatic cancer were presented here January 23^rd at the First Annual Symposium on Gastrointestinal Cancers, jointly sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and other societies.

Study investigator Christopher Crane, MD, of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, said that two of the patients had no cancer progression at 1-year follow up. One patient had a "dramatic" response, with radiographic complete resolution of tumor, he added. Perfusion imaging showed increased blood flow to the tumor. An intent of the antibody treatment is to correct the relative ischemia of pancreatic tumors.

One duodenal hemorrhage due to tumor regression was healed through supportive care. One patients had a genitourinary hemorrhage during the trial. Also, an instance of grade 3 joint pain was recorded. No cases of grade 3 anemia were observed during the study. An instance of grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity was ascribed to the chemotherapy agent.

No proteinuria or thrombosis appeared, but five patients developed hand and foot syndrome, Dr. Crane said.

The dose of capecitabine (650, or 900 mg/m² orally twice daily in the first, and second and third cohorts respectively) had to be reduced by a quarter for nine of the 24 patients. All participants received a full dose of planned radiation (50.4 Gy). All doses of the antibody were given, except for one missed dose during the genitourinary hemorrhage.

Bevacizumab was given at 5 mg/kg intravenously, two weeks before the start of radiation, and then every 2 weeks thereafter.

Some of the authors of this study have received research funding from Genentech.


[Study title: Preliminary results of a phase I study of rhuMab VEGF (bevacizumab) with concurrent radiotherapy (XRT) and capecitabine (CAP). Abstract OP85]

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