Bevacizumab with standard chemotherapy improved overall survival in colorectal and lung cancer patients and progression-free survival in breast cancer patients, but this combination failed to increase survival in patients with previously treated and refractory metastatic breast cancer. Reasons for these contrasting results, the mechanisms behind normalization of tumor vasculature for improved drug and oxygen delivery, and the need for biomarkers and imaging techniques to guide patient selection and protocol design are discussed.
- Rakesh K Jain
- Dan G Duda
- Jay S Loeffler