Bevicizumab (Avastin) Infusion for Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV) Not Associated With Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

Choroidal Neovascularization Clinical Trial

Official title: An Open-Label, Pilot Study of Bevacizumab in Subjects With Choroidal Neovascularization Secondary to Diseases Other Than Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to see if the drug bevacizumab is safe and effective to use for people with choroidal neovascularization (CNV). CNV is an eye condition where abnormal blood vessels grow in the part of the eye responsible for central (straight ahead) vision. The drug is produced using recombinant DNA technology and has been approved by the FDA for use in colon cancer. Although not yet approved for people with CNV, the FDA has given permission to use this drug in this study.

Clinical Trial Description

Bevacizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against VEGF. It has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic colon cancer 18. We hypothesize that VEGF also plays a role in the development of CNV in pathologic myopia. Therefore, employing a mode of therapy that would decrease the risks posed to eyes with attenuated sclera, we have treated, through special approval by the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, two patients with persistent myopic CNV with intravenous bevacizumab 19. Despite multiple treatments with PDT, the CNV remained active and vision continued to decline in these two index patients. After four infusions of bevacizumab, the CNV became inactive. Six months after the last infusion in each patient, the CNV showed no evidence of activity or leakage on fluorescein angiography. Vision also improved in the diseased eyes of both patients. The two patients tolerated the infusions well, with no adverse events detected. In particular, blood pressure remained stable and no proteinuria was noted on serial analyses of 24-hour urine collections. The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami has also recently reported favorable outcomes of bevacizumab administered in repeated doses to 14 patients (age > 65 years) with CNV secondary to AMD that has been refractory to other therapies.

We propose a non-randomized, open-label pilot study to evaluate the effect of bevacizumab in patients with CNV due to any cause other than AMD. This design will allow us to closely monitor safety and tolerability of bevacizumab while we evaluate 3 bioactivity outcomes. Based upon dramatic responses in two patients with CNV due to myopic degeneration, we hypothesize that treatment with bevacizumab may have major advantages over current standard of care. ;

Study Design

Allocation: Non-Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Choroidal Neovascularization
• Degenerative Myopia
• Macular Degeneration
• Myopia
• Myopia, Degenerative
• Neovascularization, Pathologic
• Pathological Myopia

• NCT number: NCT00407719
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Johns Hopkins University
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1
• Start date: June 2005
• Completion date: May 2008