The randomized Phase III OCEANS study of bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy showed that women with recurrent ovarian cancer who took bevacizumab lived significantly longer without their disease getting worse. A 52% reduction in the risk of disease progression was seen.

"Women taking bevacizumab lived for longer periods without disease progression and without having to go back on chemotherapy," said Carol Aghajanian, MD, lead study author and Chief, Gynecologic Medical Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "This is good news for women with these cancers, as we are increasingly able to treat ovarian cancer as a chronic disease."

The results from OCEANS show that after a median follow-up of 24 months, median progression-free survival was 12.4 months for the patients in the bevacizumab group, compared to 8.4 months for patients who had chemotherapy alone. In addition, 79 percent of women treated with bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy had significant tumor shrinkage, compared to 57 percent treated with chemotherapy alone. The duration of response (how long the tumor shrinkage lasted) was also longer for the patients in the bevacizumab group (10.4 months versus 7.4 months).

The multicenter study randomized 484 patients to receive bevacizumab, an anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, and chemotherapy (carboplatin and gemcitabine) or a placebo and the same chemotherapy regimen. Bevacizumab or placebo was continued after the completion of chemotherapy until the time of disease progression.

The side effects of bevacizumab were consistent with those seen in previous studies. No gastrointestinal perforations were seen in the OCEANS trial.

The investigators said the next step in this work is to evaluate the role of bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy for platinum-resistant disease, and to combine bevacizumab with other emerging novel therapies such as PARP inhibitors.

"The data from OCEANS demonstrate a clear response from bevacizumab in these cancers," Dr. Aghajanian said. "These are very meaningful results for patients for whom there are currently limited treatment options available."

Source: ASCO

Reference: ASCO 2011 Abstract: LBA5007 OCEANS: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase III trial of chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab (BEV) in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent epithelial ovarian (EOC), primary peritoneal (PPC), or fallopian tube cancer (FTC). C. Aghajanian, N. J. Finkler, T. Rutherford, D. A. Smith, J. Yi, H. Parmar, L. R. Nycum, M. A. Sovak.