Maintenance treatment with oral cyclophosphamide and bevacizumab in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of maintenance treatment with oral cyclophosphamide (Cy) and bevacizumab (Bev) in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Patients & methods: Induction treatment consisted of cisplatin, epirubicin, Cy and Bev every 3 weeks, for a maximum of six cycles. Maintenance treatment consisted of oral Cy 50 mg, days 1-14 and Bev 15 mg/kg, every 3 weeks until disease progression occurred. Results: In total, 39 patients were enrolled: after induction chemotherapy, the objective response was 74.3%. The median progression-free survival was 13.3 months, and the median overall survival was 33.2 months. Toxicity during maintenance treatment was mild. Conclusion: Maintenance with Cy and Bev may achieve encouraging results in terms of progression-free survival and overall survival in recurrent ovarian cancer patients.