European journal of clinical pharmacology
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Jun 2011
Meta AnalysisRisk of high-grade bleeding in patients with cancer treated with bevacizumab: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
High-grade bleeding is a serious adverse event associated with bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting vascular endothelial growth factor and widely used in the current cancer treatments. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the overall incidence and risk of high-grade bleeding in cancer patients who receive bevacizumab therapy. ⋯ Among the patients included in the trials analyzed in this meta-analysis, the addition of bevacizumab to cancer chemotherapy significantly increased the risk of high-grade bleeding. The risk may be dose-dependent and may vary with tumor type.