A trial looking at using bevacizumab for grade 2 or 3 gliomas that have come back (The TAVAREC Trial)

Cancer type:

Brain (and spinal cord) tumours

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 2

This trial combined bevacizumab (Avastin) with temozolomide (Temodal) for a type of brain tumour called a grade 2 or 3 glioma.

It was for people whose glioma had come back after treatment

More about this trial

Doctors initially treat grade 2 or 3 gliomas with surgery, and radiotherapy. But the tumour can start to grow again. When this happens doctors may treat it with a type of chemotherapy call temozolomide.

Bevacizumab is a targeted cancer drug called a monoclonal antibody. It works by targeting a protein on the cancer cell called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

This protein helps cancers to grow new blood vessels, so they can get food and oxygen to grow and survive. Blocking this protein may help stop cancers growing. Research suggested that bevacizumab may be useful to treat gliomas that had come back.

The researchers compared:

temozolomide and bevacizumab
temozolomide only

They wanted to find out if bevacizumab was helpful or not to treat grade 2 or 3 gliomas that had come back.

Summary of results

The team found that adding bevacizumab to temozolomide wasn’t helpful for treating grade 2 or 3 gliomas that had come back after treatment.

This trial was open for people to join between 2011 and 2015.

These results were published in 2018.

About this trial

This was an international phase 3 trial.

It was a randomised trial. Everyone was put into 1 of 2 treatment groups. Neither they or their doctor could choose which group they were in.

Of the 155 people who joined:

77 were to have temozolomide
78 were to have temozolomide and bevacizumab

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Results
The trial team looked at the number of people who were alive 1 year after treatment.

Of the 77 people who were to have temozolomide the team were able to look at 72 people. Of these 72 people, 44 (61%) were alive 1 year after treatment.

Of the 78 people who were to have temozolomide and bevacizumab the team were able to look at 69 people. Of these 69 people, 38 (55%) were alive 1 year after treatment.

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The average length of time people lived was:

just under 15 months (14.8) for those who had temozolomide
just under 13 months (12.9) for those who had temozolomide and bevacizumab

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Side effects

The most common side effects in both groups were:

a drop in blood cells
tiredness
feeling or being sick
infections

Conclusion

The research team concluded that adding bevacizumab to temozolomide wasn’t better than temozolomide on its own for grade 2 or 3 glioma.

But even when a trial shows a treatment isn’t useful for a particular cancer, it adds to our knowledge and understanding of cancer and how to treat it.

Where this information comes from

We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item

) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.

Recruitment start:

29/08/2011

Recruitment end:

10/07/2015

How to join a clinical trial

Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.

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Questions to ask your doctor about clinical trials

Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.

Chief Investigator

Dr Sara Erridge

Supported by

European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
F.Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Roche)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer

If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses

Freephone 0808 800 4040

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