Stefano AD, Moretto R, Cella CA, Romano FJ, Raimondo L, Fiore G, Pietro FD, Pepe S, Placido SD, Carlomagno C. Bevacizumab maintenance in metastatic colorectal cancer: How long? World J Clin Cases 2014; 2(11): 717-723 [PMID: 25405197 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i11.717]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Alfonso De Stefano, MD, PhD, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini, 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy. alfonso.destefano@unina.it
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Nov 16, 2014; 2(11): 717-723 Published online Nov 16, 2014. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i11.717
Bevacizumab maintenance in metastatic colorectal cancer: How long?
Alfonso De Stefano, Roberto Moretto, Chiara Alessandra Cella, Francesco Jacopo Romano, Lucia Raimondo, Giovanni Fiore, Francesca Di Pietro, Stefano Pepe, Sabino De Placido, Chiara Carlomagno
Alfonso De Stefano, Roberto Moretto, Chiara Alessandra Cella, Francesco Jacopo Romano, Lucia Raimondo, Giovanni Fiore, Francesca Di Pietro, Sabino De Placido, Chiara Carlomagno, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Stefano Pepe, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi (SA), Italy
Author contributions: De Stefano A drafted the manuscript, collected the figures, and approved the final version of the manuscript; Moretto R, Cella CA, Romano FJ, Raimondo L, Fiore G, Di Pietro F, Pepe S, De Placido S revised the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript; Carlomagno C worked on data interpretation, revised the manuscript, and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Alfonso De Stefano, MD, PhD, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Sergio Pansini, 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy. alfonso.destefano@unina.it
Telephone: +39-08-17464984 Fax: +39-08-12203147
Received: April 2, 2014 Revised: July 30, 2014 Accepted: September 6, 2014 Published online: November 16, 2014
Abstract
The management of patients with non-progressive metastatic colorectal cancer after six months of treatment has not yet been codified. The most relevant concerns are the effectiveness of maintenance vs discontinuation, and the tolerability of prolonged treatment. Here we report the case of a 72-year-old man affected by colorectal cancer with lung metastases who achieved a complete response after receiving capecitabine, oxaliplatin and bevacizumab for six months, and bevacizumab alone for six months. Bevacizumab was continued as maintenance regimen for more than three years. It was discontinued because of an arthroplasty. Fifty-eight months after beginning first-line treatment, the patient remains free from relapse. Adverse effects were minimal and easily controlled.
Core tip: A colorectal cancer patient with lung metastases received bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy for six months, and then bevacizumab monotherapy as maintenance treatment for more than three years. The patient achieved a complete response without evidence of side effects. He remains relapse free 58 mo after diagnosis.
