[Preliminary clinical evaluations of bevacizumab for recurrent malignant glioma in Chinese patients].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical efficacies of bevacizumab (BEV) for high-grade glioma (HGG) in Chinese patients and evaluate its profiles of adverse events and usage safety. METHODS: A total of 15 HGG cases, including glioblastoma multiform (GBM) (n = 12) and anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) (n = 3), were selected to receive the treatments of BEV (10 mg/kg, q2w) and temozolomide (TMZ, 150 mg/m(2), 5 d/28 d). Their radiological responses, clinical status, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. Also their adverse events and severity were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: According to the RANO criteria, during the short period (<3 months), 11 cases had significant radiological and clinical responses. However, only 4 cases responded during a follow-up period of beyond 3 months. Three cases had retrogression after BEV chemotherapy. At 6 months post-treatment, 8 cases (53.3%) survived without lesion progression and the median PFS was 8 ± 5 months. During a longer follow-up (>6 months), 8 patients had tumor retrogression, including 5 deaths. The median overall survival period was 24 ± 10 months. The adverse events included hypertension (n = 2), wound-healing complication (n = 1), vomiting (n = 2) and cerebro-spinal fluid leakage (n = 1). All complications were cured by activate supportive measures. CONCLUSION: After BEV treatment, most patients obtain more significant short-term responses with good toleration. For re-operative cases, the usage of BEV should be deferred to one month post-operation so as to avoid the occurrence of wound-healing complications.