Final safety results of BO17704 (AVAiL): A phase III randomized study of first-line bevacizumab (Bv) and cisplatin/gemcitabine (CG) in patients (pts) with advanced or recurrent nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
8039 Background: AVAiL, an international placebo-controlled phase III trial, showed that Bv-based therapy significantly improved PFS and response rate in patients with advanced/recurrent NSCLC. This report summarizes overall safety findings from AVAiL. Methods: AVAiL randomized 1,043 patients with untreated locally advanced, metastatic or recurrent non-squamous NSCLC to C 80mg/m2 (d1) and G 1,250mg/m2 (d1 and d8) q3w for up to 6 cycles plus either Bv 7.5mg/kg q3w (n=331 with safety data), Bv 15mg/kg q3w (n=329) or placebo (n=326). Bv/placebo was administered until disease progression. Primary endpoint was PFS; secondary endpoints included OS, response rate, and safety. Safety was measured using NCI-CTC version 3.0 criteria for adverse events (AEs). Results: At final analysis, the median/maximum duration of Bv therapy was 4.9/28.5 mo (Bv 7.5) and 4.3/23.4 mo (Bv 15). The most common AEs overall were hematological and gastrointestinal (GI), and occurred in similar proportions of pts in the Bv and placebo arms. Grade ≥3 AEs occurred in 80%, 83%, and 77% of pts in the Bv 7.5, Bv 15 and placebo arms, respectively. The most common grade ≥3 adverse events were hematological, mainly neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Neutropenia was reported in 43% (Bv 7.5), 40% (Bv 15) and 34% (placebo) of pts. Grade ≥3 AEs of special interest included hypertension (7%, 9% and 2%), proteinuria (2%, 3% and 0%), bleeding (4%, 5% and 2%) and hemoptysis (0.5%, 1.2% and 1.3%). The incidence of grade 5 hemoptysis was low (0.9%, 0.9% and 0% of pts, respectively). The incidence of GI perforations (<1%), thromboembolic events (≤8%), CHF (≤1%) and wound healing complications (<1%) was low and similar between treatment arms. The incidence of serious AEs was 39%, 45% and 36% in the Bv 7.5, Bv 15 and placebo arms, respectively. No new safety signals were reported. Conclusions: After E4599, AVAiL further demonstrated the efficacy of Bv in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced NSCLC. Final safety data confirm the well established and manageable safety profile of Bv-based therapy in pts with advanced NSCLC. [Table: see text]