Avastin not as beneficial to older lung cancer patients | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Deborah Schrag, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, comments on a study that found adding the drug bevacizumab (Avastin) to the standard chemotherapy regimen for non-small cell lung cancer did not lead to significantly increase survival rates for patients over the age of 65 enrolled in Medicare. Based on these results, the authors recommend that bevacizumab should not automatically be administered together with carboplatin-paclitaxel for older patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Rather, clinicians should exercise caution in making treatment recommendations and use bevacizumab judiciously for their patients.