Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Breast cancer

Combining bevacizumab with chemotherapy—from maintenance to second-line treatment

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 11, page 621 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Bevacizumab is a VEGF-neutralizing antibody that blocks angiogenesis, a crucial process in the growth of both primary tumours and metastases. Bevacizumab has been used for the treatment of several cancer types, including colon and breast cancer.

The combination of bevacizumab with chemotherapy, in the first-line or second-line setting, results in improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with HER2-negative, locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. However, no study has shown an improvement in overall survival, possibly because the patients with breast cancer did not receive bevacizumab for a long enough period to achieve a survival benefit: preclinical studies demonstrate that tumour blood vessels can regrow once bevacizumab administration is terminated.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. von Minckwitz, G. et al. Bevacizumab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone as second-line treatment for patients with HER2-negative locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer after first-line treatment with bevacizumab plus chemotherapy (TANIA): an open-label, randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)70439-5

  2. Gligorov, J. et al. Maintenance capecitabine and bevacizumab versus bevacizumab alone after initial first-line bevacizumab and docetaxel for patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (IMELDA): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)70444-9

Download references

Authors
  1. Alessia Errico
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Errico, A. Combining bevacizumab with chemotherapy—from maintenance to second-line treatment. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 11, 621 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.179

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.179

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer