Bevacizumab treatment of prostate cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Angiogenesis plays an important role in the development and progression of prostate cancer. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a primary mediator of this process and is a target for novel therapies. Bevacizumab is a recombinant anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody that has demonstrated antitumor activity in a variety of cancers.

Areas covered: In this review, we present the results of several clinical trials for bevacizumab in prostate cancer. Overall, these trials have shown improvements in progression-free survival but no changes in overall survival. Ongoing clinical trials are testing bevacizumab in combination with novel cytotoxic drugs and targeted therapies in metastatic and localized settings.

Expert opinion: Bevacizumab has biological activity in prostate cancer. However, the mixed clinical trial results support the theory that prostate cancers may be driven only in part by angiogenesis. Questions remain about the future role of bevacizumab in the treatment of prostate cancer.

Keywords::

• angiogenesis
• anti-VEGF
• bevacizumab
• prostate cancer

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to Mount Sinai School of Medicine to fund clinical research fellow Alexander Small. William Oh has received research funding from Genentech, and has consulted for Sanofi-Aventis.