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NCCN Guidelines for Breast Cancer Updated; Bevacizumab Recommendation Affirmed

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently updated the NCCN Guidelines™ for Breast Cancer to address the use of bevacizumab in metastatic disease.

October 18, 2010

FORT WASHINGTON, PA — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently updated the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines for Oncology (NCCN Guidelines™) for Breast Cancer to affirm the recommendation regarding the use of bevacizumab (Avastin®, Genentech/Roche) in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

The NCCN Guidelines Panel for Breast Cancer affirmed its existing recommendation of bevacizumab in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol®, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) as an appropriate therapeutic option for metastatic breast cancer with the evidence designation 2A meaning that it is based on lower level evidence and uniform agreement of the panel as to its appropriateness.

The Panel revised the related footnote, it now states, “Randomized clinical trials in metastatic breast cancer document that the addition of bevacizumab to some first or second line chemotherapy agents modestly improves time to progression and response rates but does not improve overall survival. The time to progression impact may vary among cytotoxic agents and appears greatest with bevacizumab in combination with weekly paclitaxel.”

The NCCN Guidelines™ are developed and updated through an evidence-based process with explicit review of the scientific evidence integrated with expert judgment by multidisciplinary panels of expert physicians from NCCN Member Institutions. The most recent version of this and all the NCCN Guidelines are available free of charge at NCCN.org. The NCCN Guidelines for Patients™: Breast Cancer is now available at NCCN.com.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 23 of the world's leading cancer centers, is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers. The primary goal of all NCCN initiatives is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology practice so patients can live better lives. For more information, visit NCCN.org.

The NCCN Member Institutions are:

  • City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center
    Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
  • Duke Cancer Institute
  • Fox Chase Cancer Center
  • Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
  • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center / Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
  • The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
  • Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University
  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
  • Moffitt Cancer Center
  • The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
  • Roswell Park Cancer Institute
  • Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine
  • St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
  • Stanford Cancer Institute
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center
  • UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • University of Colorado Cancer Center
  • University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • UNMC Eppley Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center
  • The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

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