Efficacy and safety of bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy for advanced and recurrent endometrial cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy is a new regimen for advanced/recurrent endometrial cancer. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy in advanced/recurrent endometrial cancer. Study design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Eligible studies were retrieved from Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library. The data of primary outcomes including pro-gression-free survival and overall survival and secondary outcomes including overall survival, response rate, and adverse events (grade ≥2) were extracted, pooled, and used for the meta-analysis to com-pare the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy with other treatments in patients with advanced/recurrent endometri-al cancer. Results: Notably, 2 randomized-controlled and 5 single-arm trials of bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy or bevacizumab single-agent therapy for endometrial cancer were included. Meta-analysis indicat-ed that bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy significantly increased the progression-free survival rate (hazard ratio=0.82, 95% confidence interval=0.70, 0.97) and overall survival rate (hazard ratio=0.83, 95% confidence interval=0.70, 0.98) compared with chemotherapy alone. The rates of overall, complete, and partial response to bevacizum-ab-combined chemotherapy were 76%, 22%, and 21%, respectively. The 6 and 12-month disease-free progression rates after bevacizum-ab-combined chemotherapy were 79% and 62%, respectively. Anemia (23%), leukopenia (46%), neutropenia (51%), hypertension (16%), and fatigue (24%) were the general adverse events after bevacizumab-com-bined chemotherapy. Conclusion: Bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy may have a higher efficacy in improving the overall and progression-free survival in patients with advanced/recurrent endometrial cancers compared with chemotherapy alone.