Efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 negative metastatic breast cancer: About a large series in Moroccan population.

Context: Randomized studies have shown different magnitude of bevacizumab (BV) benefit in the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Aims: The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BV for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) negative metastatic disease. Settings and Design: A large observational institutional study in Moroccan population. Materials and Methods: From January 2009 to December 2011, 42 patients with HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer were analyzed. Results: The median age was 51 years. Approximately two-third of patients analyzed were treated at the first line with BV in association with (paclitaxel, docetaxel or capecitabine) in (40.7%; 40.7% and 18.5%) and the other third at second-line therapy with a combination of the same drugs in (46.6%, 26.6% and 266% respectively); the median number of cycles was 15. In terms of the clinical benefit rate there was a trend in favor of the combination with taxanes and among responders, median duration of objective response was longer with paclitaxel. In addition, analyses of progression-free survival (PFS) across subgroups in both first and second line therapy showed consistent improvements in PFS with the combination of BV and paclitaxel the difference was statistically significant. Concerning safety, the BV was generally well-tolerated. Conclusions: BV in HER2 negative metastatic diseases potentially improved objective response rate and PFS especially in combination with Paclitaxel, which confirm and expand on the results from published literature, with tolerable toxicity.