Bevacizumab: overview of the literature

Inhibiting the angiogenic process is a clever method of cancer care. Over the last decade, some antiangiogenic compounds have been developed and approved for cancer treatment. Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that inhibits VEGF activity. When used in combination with chemotherapy, it has an important role for treating many types of advanced cancer, including colorectal cancer, renal cell carcinoma, non-small-cell lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and glioblastoma multiforme. In this paper we review the basic science behind this molecule's development, as well the major clinical trials in which bevacizumab was involved in oncology.