Increased death risk with bevacizumab addition

摘要

Bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy or biological treatment is associated with an increased risk of death over chemotherapy alone, according to a meta-analysis published in JAAM this week (2011;305:506).However, David Prayle, associate director of pharmacy at the Greater Midlands Cancer Network, points out that for the two mmour types for which the study showed the highest association with mortality, bevacizumab is either not licensed (prostate cancer) or not routinely used (lung cancer; the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the Scottish Medicines Consortium have not recommended the drug for treatment of this cancer).