Am J Health-Syst Pharm
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Vol. 62, Issue 10, 1021-1032
Copyright © 2005 by American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow A correction has been published
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Motl, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Motl, S.

Clinical Reviews

Bevacizumab in combination chemotherapy for colorectal and other cancers

Susannah Motl

SUSANNAH MOTL, PHARM.D., is Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee, 875 Monroe Avenue, Suite 112, Memphis, TN 38163 (smotl{at}utmem.edu).


Purpose. The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical efficacy, adverse effects, and dosage and administration of bevacizumab in patients with colorectal and other cancers are reviewed.

Summary. Bevacizumab is a recombinant human monoclonal antibody that inhibits the biological activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein involved in the neovascularization of multiple malignant tumors. A single dose of bevacizumab 0.1–10 mg/kg yields a maximum concentration of 2.8–284 µg/mL and shows a dose–response relationship. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown that bevacizumab has both cytostatic and cytotoxic effects, resulting in a reduction in tumor growth and increases in median survival time and time to tumor progression. Bevacizumab is available as an intravenous agent and carries FDA-approved labeling for use in the first-line treatment of meta-static colorectal cancer in combination with fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. Bevacizumab 5 mg/kg is infused intravenously over 30–90 minutes every two weeks. No dosage reductions are required for patients with renal or hepatic dysfunction. Bevacizumab has also yielded preliminary evidence of efficacy for breast, non-small-cell lung, pancreatic, prostate, renal, and hepatic cancers, as well as for melanoma and acute myelogenous leukemia. The most frequent adverse effects are nausea, vomiting, headache, epistaxis, anorexia, stomatitis, dyspnea, and constipation.

Conclusion. Bevacizumab combined with fluorouracil-based chemotherapy has become the standard of care for the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and may prove useful for other tumors as well.

Index terms: Antineoplastic agents; Bevacizumab; Blood levels; Colorectal neoplasms; Combined therapy; Dosage; Fluorouracil; Kidney failure; Liver failure; Mechanism of action; Neoplasm metastasis; Neoplasms; Pharmacodynamics; Pharmacokinetics; Toxicity

 



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Clin. Cancer Res.Home page
T.-Y. Lee, R. M. Tjin Tham Sjin, S. Movahedi, B. Ahmed, E. A. Pravda, K.-M. Lo, S. D. Gillies, J. Folkman, and K. Javaherian
Linking Antibody Fc Domain to Endostatin Significantly Improves Endostatin Half-life and Efficacy
Clin. Cancer Res., March 1, 2008; 14(5): 1487 - 1493.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
JCOHome page
E. Liapi and J.-F. H. Geschwind
Transcatheter and Ablative Therapeutic Approaches for Solid Malignancies
J. Clin. Oncol., March 10, 2007; 25(8): 978 - 986.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann OncolHome page
J. Roncalli, J. P. Delord, M. Galinier, P. Massabuau, M. Lescure, J. M. Fauvel, and D. Azria
Bevacizumab in metastatic colorectal cancer: a left intracardiac thrombotic event
Ann. Onc., July 1, 2006; 17(7): 1177 - 1178.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am J Health Syst PharmHome page
J. M. Kolesar
Bevacizumab: Improved survival at what cost?
Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., May 15, 2005; 62(10): 1017 - 1017.
[Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2005 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.