Addition of Bevacizumab to Radiotherapy and Temozolomide Does Not Worsen Health-Related Quality of Life in Glioblastoma Patients
In the phase III AVAglio trial, the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to radiotherapy and temozolomide improved progression-free survival in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. As reported by Taphoorn et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, bevacizumab treatment did not worsen health-related quality of life during the progression-free period in patients in the trial.
Study Details
Health-related quality of life was assessed by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires C30 (global health status, physical functioning, social functioning) and Brain Cancer Module 20 (motor dysfunction, communication deficit) at each tumor assessment. Deterioration-free survival was the time to deterioration, progression, or death.
Health-Related Quality-of-Life Outcomes
Among 450 patients in the bevacizumab group and 452 in the control group, mean changes from baseline did not reach clinically relevant differences between groups for most items, and health-related quality of life declined at progression in both groups. The bevacizumab group had significantly longer median deterioration-free survival (all P < .001) for global health status (6.4 vs 3.9 months), physical functioning (6.1 vs 4.2 months), social functioning (7.4 vs 4.1 months), motor dysfunction (8.6 vs 5.0 months), and communication deficit (6.9 vs 4.2 months). Time to deterioration (deterioration or death) was not significantly longer among patients in the control group vs the bevacizumab group for any health-related quality-of-life item.
The investigators concluded: “The addition of bevacizumab to standard-of-care treatment for newly diagnosed glioblastoma had no impact on [health-related quality of life] during the progression-free period.”
Martin J. B. Taphoorn, MD, PhD, of Medical Center Haaglanden, the Netherlands, is the corresponding author of the Journal of Clinical Oncology article.
The study was supported by F. Hoffmann-La Roche. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit jco.ascopubs.org.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
