Adding bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy improves overall survival for women with ovarian cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Preliminary findings from the Gynecologic Oncology Group’s (GOG) GOG 213 study show an improvement in overall survival for women with ovarian cancer when bevacizumab is added to standard chemotherapy. The researchers report overall survival was a median 5 months longer for women who received chemotherapy plus bevacizumab than for women who received chemotherapy alone. These findings were presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.

Median overall survival for women in the chemotherapy plus bevacizumab group was 42.2 months, compared with 37.3 months in the group who received chemotherapy alone. The additional drug improved progression-free survival by nearly 3.5 months (13.8 months for chemotherapy plus bevacizumab vs 10.4 months for chemotherapy alone). The ongoing study will assess quality of life in the women who also received bevacizumab and the role of secondary surgery before chemotherapy.