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The roles and limitations of bevacizumab in the treatment of ovarian cancer

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Abstract

Bevacizumab, an anti-VEGF antibody, targets mainly tumor blood vessels and exerts a cytostatic antitumor effect. In primary ovarian cancer, bevacizumab is used for 15 months, but its effect on progression-free survival disappears after 2 years and does not prolong overall survival. And in the treatment of primary ovarian cancer, there is no evidence that bevacizumab increases the intratumor concentration of chemotherapy and enhances response rates. On the other hand, bevacizumab is not affected by resistance mechanisms to chemotherapeutic agents or poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. In the era of using PARP inhibitors for primary ovarian cancer, bevacizumab will become a molecularly targeted drug that will play a central role in chemo-refractory and recurrent ovarian cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Kindai University, 377-2, Ohnohigashi, Osaka-Sayama, Osaka, 589-8511, Japan

    Hidekatsu Nakai & Noriomi Matsumura

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  1. Hidekatsu Nakai
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  2. Noriomi Matsumura
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Correspondence to Noriomi Matsumura.

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Hidekatsu Nakai declare no conflict of interest regarding with this article. Noriomi Matsumura received lecture fee from Chugai Pharmaceutical, AstraZeneca, and Takeda Pharmaceutical. Noriomi Matsumura received research grant from AstraZeneca. Noriomi Matsumura is also an outside director of Takara Bio.

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This article is translated and modified from a Japanese review article to be published in the Journal (Acta Obstetrica et Gynaecologica Japonica) of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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Nakai, H., Matsumura, N. The roles and limitations of bevacizumab in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Int J Clin Oncol 27, 1120–1126 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-022-02169-x

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