Efficacy of Bevacizumab Combined with Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel in the Treatment of Platinum-Resistant Recurrent Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab (BEV) combined with albumin-bound paclitaxel (ABP) in the treatment of platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer.

Methods: Eighty-six patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer admitted to our hospital from March 2014 to March 2016 were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups, namely, BEV + ABP group (n=43, treated with BEV combined with ABP) and ABP group (n=43, treated with ABP alone). Next, the clinical objective response rate (ORR), changes in serum carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) level and adverse reactions were compared between two groups. Additionally, the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were observed and recorded after treatment.

Results: The clinical ORR and disease control rate (DCR) were 86.0% (37/43) and 93.0% (40/43) in BEV + ABP group and 62.8% (27/43) and 79.1% (34/43) in ABP group, respectively. The clinical ORR of patients exhibited a statistically significant difference between two groups (p=0.025), which was overtly higher in BEV + ABP group than that in ABP group, while the DCR had no statistically significant difference between two groups (p=0.117). The serum CA125 level was evidently decreased in both groups after treatment (p<0.05) compared with that before treatment, but it displayed no statistically significant difference between two groups after treatment (p=0.220). The major adverse reactions of patients were myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reaction, alopecia, rash, fatigue and peripheral neurotoxicity. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of adverse reactions between two groups (p>0.05). All patients were followed up for 6-29 months. The median OS of patients was 16.3 months and 12.6 months in BEV + ABP group and ABP group, respectively, which was clearly longer in BEV + ABP group than that in ABP group (p=0.007). The median PFS in BEV + ABP group was obviously longer than that in ABP group (8.9 months vs. 6.7 months, p=0.028).

Conclusions: In comparison with ABP alone, BEV combined with ABP applied in the treatment of platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer prominently improves the clinical efficacy, PFS and OS, with good tolerance of patients, which is worthy of popularization and application in clinical practice.