Paclitaxel in Combination With Bevacizumab in Patients With Stage IV NSCLC. (AVATAX)

Lung and bronchopulmonary cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in France and worldwide. It is diagnosed at the metastatic stage from the outset in approximately 50% of cases. Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) are the most frequent histological forms of lung cancer (approximately 85% of cases) with a predominance of the non-epidermal type.

The increase in the number of treatments available, improved supportive care and better patient selection have, in recent years, made it possible to expand the range of first-line chemotherapy treatments available at delà̀ and have contributed to the increase in overall survival (OS). As a result, nearly 80% of patients with metastatic NSCLC receive a second line of treatment. The main objective in these often symptomatic patients is a satisfactory tumor control rate with acceptable tolerability.

For a long time, the second-line reference chemotherapy has been docetaxel or pemetrexed as monotherapy with modest results. Alternative treatments such as the combination of paclitaxel (chemotherapy)-bevacizumab (anti-angiogenic monoclonal antibody) have been studied. Since 2010, by analogy with breast cancer and in the absence of therapeutic alternatives, the paclitaxel-bevacizumab doublet has been used in non-epidermal stage IV NSCLC in France. The value of combining taxane chemotherapy with an anti-angiogenic molecule has been demonstrated in two Phase 3 clinical trials. Thus, this combination is an integral part of the possible treatments in 2nd line and beyond, registered since 2016 in the treatment guidelines for non-epidermal NSCLC.

The first-line therapeutic strategy will also be redefined in 2019 with the use of immunotherapy for a majority of patients. Subsequent treatment lines will be modified, with a focus on chemotherapy, in particular the paclitaxel-bevacizumab combination.

As this combination has been used in current practice for several years, and in view of the upcoming changes to the first and second line of NSCLC treatment, data on the efficacy and tolerance of this combination in real life are needed to guide our practices. Recent studies are also looking at the efficacy of chemotherapy, particularly taxane chemotherapy associated with an anti-angiogenic agent after a previous line including immunotherapy, with a favorable signal.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the paclitaxel-bevacizumab combination retrospectively and multicenter in current practice, with subgroup analyses of the following patients: patients who have previously received immunotherapy, patients with an EGFR or ALK oncogenic addiction pathway, patients who have previously received taxanes or anti-angiogenic agents.