Safety of Bevacizumab Therapy in Subjects with Brain Metastases due to Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Bevacizumab in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel received Food and Drug Administration approval in October 2006 for improving response rates and survival in first-line treatment of patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without brain metastases. Brain metastases were excluded based on a grade 3 intracerebral hemorrhage from a hepatocellular carcinoma brain metastasis in the original phase I study. Because NSCLC is the most common cause of brain metastases, a large fraction of patients who might benefit from bevacizumab has never been evaluated formally. We report here on the safety of bevacizumab therapy in 24 subjects with NSCLC after local therapy for brain metastases.