title: Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibody bevacizumab reduced the risk of anemia associated with chemotherapy-A meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may play a role in erythropoiesis. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT) to determine the effect of the anti-VEGF antibody bevacizumab on anemia in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Databases from PUBMED, the Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conferences until May 2010 were searched to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies included prospective RCTs in which the combination of bevacizumab and chemotherapy was compared with chemotherapy alone. Summary incidence rate, relative risk (RR), and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 6439 patients with a variety of solid tumors were included for analysis from 11 RCTs. Among those patients receiving bevacizumab and chemotherapy, the incidences of all-grade and high-grade (grade 3 and above) anemia were 17.8% (95% CI: 11.1-27.1%) and 2.8% (95% CI: 1.6-5.0%) respectively. In comparison with chemotherapy alone, bevacizumab significantly reduced all-grade (RR, 0.79; 95% CI: 0.66-1.0, p = 0.007) and high-grade anemia (RR, 0.72; 95% CI: 0.57-0.90, p = 0.005). The effect did not vary significantly among bevacizumab doses (p = 0.88), tumor types (p = 0.75) or chemotherapy regimens (p = 0.98).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bevacizumab may significantly reduce the risk of anemia with chemotherapy in cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Amna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sher
authors.forename: Shenhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012306:Risk; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000068258:Bevacizumab