Does bevacizumab increase the risk of cardiovascular adverse events in patients with cancer?
Bevacizumab treatment in cancer patients significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular adverse events, including ischemia, bleeding, and hypertension, particularly at high doses.
BACKGROUND: The monoclonal antibody bevacizumab effectively inhibits angiogenesis in several types of cancers by blocking vascular endothelial growth factor. However, life-threatening cardiovascular adverse effects could limit its use and may warrant specific follow-up strategies. METHODS AND RESULTS: <0.00001], respectively), with higher values for patiens taking high-dose regimens. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with bevacizumab increases the risk of arterial adverse events, particularly cardiac and cerebral ischemia, venous adverse events, bleeding, and arterial hypertension. This risk is additionally increased with high doses of bevacizumab. Further studies should determine the appropriate options for cardio-oncology management. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk. Unique identifier: PROSPERO(CRD42016054305).
Totzeck et al. (2017) studied this question.