Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised, phase II/III trials adding bevacizumab to platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS: Summary data from randomised trials comparing first-line bevacizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone for inoperable locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic NSCLC were meta-analysed. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), and pooled odds ratio (OR) for adverse events were calculated. The chi-squared tests evaluated interactions between treatment effects, and prognostic factors and patient characteristics.

RESULTS: Data of 2194 patients (1313 bevacizumab; 881 controls) from four phase II and III trials: AVF-0757g, JO19907,ECOG 4599 and AVAiL, were analysed. Compared with chemotherapy alone, bevacizumab significantly prolonged OS(HR 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81, 0.99; P=0.03), and PFS (0.72; 95% CI 0.66, 0.79; P<0.001). Bevacizumab showed a significantly greater effect on OS in patients with adenocarcinoma versus other histologies (P=0.03), and patients with body weight loss ≤5% versus >5% (P=0.04). Bevacizumab significantly increased the risk of grade ≥3 proteinuria, hypertension,haemorrhagic events, neutropenia, and febrile neutropenia [corrected].

CONCLUSIONS: Bevacizumab significantly prolonged OS and PFS when added to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC; no unexpected toxicity was evident.