
Around 1 in 5 people diagnosed with cancer in the UK take part in a clinical trial.
This trial looked at whether bevacizumab after surgery helped people live longer, or stopped melanoma coming back, in people who were at high risk of .
This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.
Doctors usually treat melanoma skin cancer with surgery. After this, you have regular check ups because there is a risk that the melanoma may come back. So far, there is no strong research evidence to show that having any treatment after surgery helped people live longer. So having regular check ups by surgeons is the standard treatment.
Bevacizumab (also known as Avastin) is a type of biological therapy called a monoclonal antibody. It seeks out and blocks a particular protein which is needed for the cancer cell to grow.
Doctors already use bevacizumab to treat a number of other advanced cancers. But it wasn't known whether it would help stop melanoma coming back after surgery.
The aims of this trial were to
The trial team found that bevacizumab increased the amount of time it took for melanoma to come back after surgery.
This was a phase 3 trial. It recruited 1,343 people. It was a randomised trial.
After a minimum of 5 years of follow up the team looked at how many people were still alive.
They also looked at the percentage of people who were free of cancer.
15 out of every 100 people (15%) who had bevacizumab had moderate to severe side effects. There was also an increased risk of high blood pressure.
The trial team concluded that bevacizumab did improve the amount of time people were free of melanoma after surgery. But didn't increase the amount of time they lived after surgery.
We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () but may not have been published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Pippa Corrie
Cambridge Cancer Trials Centre
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cancer Research UK
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre
Roche
Warwick Medical School Clinical Trials Unit
This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUK/06/014.
Freephone 0808 800 4040
Around 1 in 5 people diagnosed with cancer in the UK take part in a clinical trial.