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The combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab (A + B) is the new standard of care for the systemic first-line treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, up to now there are only few data on the safety and efficacy of A + B in real life. We included patients with advanced HCC treated with A + B as first-line therapy at four cancer centers in Germany and Austria between December 2018 and August 2021. Demographics, overall survival (OS), and adverse events were assessed until 15 September 2021. We included 66 patients. Most patients had compensated cirrhosis (n = 34; 52%), while Child–Pugh class B cirrhosis was observed in 23 patients (35%), and class C cirrhosis in 5 patients (8%). The best responses included a complete response (CR) in 7 patients (11%), a partial response (PR) in 12 patients (18%), stable disease (SD) in 22 patients (33%), and progressive disease in 11 patients (17%). The median progression-free (PFS) survival was 6.5 months, while the median overall survival (OS) was not reached in this cohort (6-month OS: 69%, 12-month OS: 60%, 18-month OS: 58%). Patients with viral hepatitis seemed to have a better prognosis than patients with HCC of non-viral etiology. The real-world PFS and OS were comparable to those of the pivotal IMBRAVE trial, despite including patients with worse liver function in this study. We conclude that A + B is also highly effective in a real-life setting, with manageable toxicity, especially in patients with compensated liver disease. In patients with compromised liver function (Child B and C), the treatment showed low efficacy and, therefore, it should be well considered before administration to these patients.
Background: The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate efficacy and safety of first-line chemotherapy with or without a monoclonal antibody in elderly patients ( ≥ 70 years) with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), since they are frequently underrepresented in clinical trials.
Results: Individual data from 10 studies were included. From a total of 3271 patients, 604 patients (18%) were ≥ 70 years (median 73 years, range 70–88). Of these, 335 patients were treated with a bevacizumab-based first-line regimen and 265 were treated with chemotherapy only. The median PFS was 8.2 vs. 6.5 months and the median OS was 16.7 vs. 13.0 months in patients treated with and without bevacizumab, respectively. The safety profile of bevacizumab in combination with first-line chemotherapy did not differ from published clinical trials.
Materials and Methods: PubMed and Cochrane Library searches were performed on 29 April 2013 and studies published to this date were included. Authors were contacted to request progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) data, patient data on treatment regimens, age, sex and potential signs of toxicity in patients ≥ 70 years of age.
Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that the addition of bevacizumab to standard first-line chemotherapy improves clinical outcome in elderly patients with mCRC and is well tolerated.