Bevacizumab for Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) have limited treatment options beyond first-line platinum-etoposide therapy. Early phase II trials demonstrated improvement in outcomes in this setting with the addition of bevacizumab, an antiangiogenic agent.

Now, Italian investigators have conducted a multicenter, randomized phase III trial, in which 205 treatment-naive ES-SCLC patients received cisplatin and etoposide with or without bevacizumab for 6 cycles. Nonprogressors in the bevacizumab arm received maintenance therapy for a maximum of 18 cycles.

At a median follow-up of 34.9 months, the addition of bevacizumab significantly improved median progression-free survival (PFS; 6.7 vs 5.7 months; hazard ratio, 0.72; P=0.03), b…