Does bevacizumab need to be used for life? Course of treatment

Bevacizumab (Bevacizumab) is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that targets vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and exerts anti-cancer effects mainly by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. Its indications cover a variety of solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, renal cell carcinoma, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and glioblastoma. In terms of medication cycle, bevacizumab is not a drug that "must be used for life". Instead, it can be flexibly adjusted depending on the degree of disease response, individual tolerance, and the doctor's comprehensive evaluation. The usually recommended dose is an intravenous infusion every two or three weeks, and the course of treatment is usually multiple cycles of administration, and the effect is evaluated by combining imaging and tumor markers and other indicators during the treatment process.

For newly treated patients, bevacizumab is mostly used in combination with first-line chemotherapy, and then can be used alone when entering the maintenance treatment stage. During the maintenance phase, the administration time may be extended and the intensity of administration may be weakened, thereby reducing the toxic burden. If some cancer patients maintain stable disease for a long time, they may gradually reduce the frequency of medication under clinical guidance, or even discontinue medication for observation; however, for patients with a high risk of recurrence, maintenance therapy still needs to be continued. It should be emphasized that although long-term use of bevacizumab can prolong progression-free survival (PFS), it also increases the incidence of adverse reactions, such as proteinuria, hypertension, bleeding tendency, etc. Therefore, indefinite use without an evaluation mechanism is not recommended.

In summary, the bevacizumab regimen is individualized and requires a balance between disease control, toxicity management, and quality of life. Patients should communicate closely with their oncologists and dynamically adjust the medication time based on tumor biological characteristics, treatment response and personal health status, rather than mechanically "lifelong medication".

Reference materials:https://www.drugs.com/bevacizumab.html