title: The addition of bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy in breast cancer: which patient benefits the most?
abstract: Bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against vascular endothelial growth factor, is an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for patients with breast cancer. Bevacizumab has demonstrated a gain in progression-free survival and a trend towards an overall survival benefit in various subgroups of breast cancer. Given the lack of a predictive biomarker, we performed a literature search with regard to efficacy and tolerability of bevacizumab in different subgroups of breast cancer patients and in different settings. In the metastatic setting, the efficacy of bevacizumab has been most extensively studied and demonstrated in patients with triple-negative breast cancer, the most difficult-to-treat population among patients with advanced disease and also the group with the biggest need for new treatment options. Overall, bevacizumab is well tolerated with very few serious adverse events. Bevacizumab is also an active and feasible treatment option for patients above 70 years of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Ghent, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium ; Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Vibeke
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kruse
authors.forename: Hannelore
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Denys
authors.forename: Rudy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Den Broecke
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Belle
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cocquyt
keywords: Age; Bevacizumab; Breast cancer; Metastases; Safety; Survival