ASCO 2013-BEVACIZUMAB EFFECTIVE IN ADVANCED CERVICAL CANCER 

CHICAGO — Women with metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer had significantly prolonged survival when bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech, Inc.) was added to chemotherapy in a phase 3 trial reported here at the plenary session of the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The median overall survival was 17 months for women receiving the combination, compared with 13.3 months for women receiving chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio, 0.71; P = .0035).

This is the first time that a targeted agent has shown an improvement in survival in this cancer, noted lead author Krishnansu Sujata Tewari, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Irvine.

"Women with advanced cervical cancer don't have many options," she commented. "We finally have a drug that helps women live longer."

"This is also possibly a first step towards turning cervical cancer into a chronic disease, helping women live longer and allowing time for additional treatments that could further slow the cancer's progression and improve survival," Dr. Tewari commented in a statement.

The trial was conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group and was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The improved survival with bevacizumab was made public earlier this year on recommendation of the trial's data safety monitoring committee.

These findings "are likely to change clinical practice and provide an opportunity to improve outcome in patients with recurrent cervical cancer who have previously had very limited treatment options," Dr. Tewari said at the time.

Known as GOG 240, the trial involved 452 patients with pretreated metastatic, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer who were enrolled from 2009 to 2012 in the United States and Spain.

The were 4 arms in the trial: patients were randomly assigned to receive either topotecan or cisplatin in combination with paclitaxel, and also to have bevacizumab added or not added to the chemotherapy.

In an analysis conducted in 2012, topotecan plus paclitaxel was not found to be superior to the standard therapy of cisplatin plus paclitaxel, and the investigators and patients were notified of the finding at that time, according to the NCI.

The GOG 240 trial was sponsored by the NCI. Genentech, Inc., provided support for the trial under the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the NCI for the clinical development of bevacizumab.

2013 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Abstract 3. Presented June 2, 2013.