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(HealthDay News) — The systemic safety of bevacizumab appears to be similar to that of ranibizumab as intravitreal therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to research published online September 15 in The Cochrane Library.
Lorenzo Moja, MD, of the University of Milan, and colleagues conducted a review of the systemic safety of bevacizumab vs. ranibizumab for the intravitreal treatment of neovascular AMD. Data from nine randomized, controlled studies were included in the meta-analysis.
The researchers found that, at the maximum follow-up of one or two years, based on eight studies involving 3,338 participants, the estimated risk ratio (RR) of death for bevacizumab compared with ranibizumab was 1.10 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.78–1.57; P=0.59; moderate-quality evidence). Based on event rates in the studies, the risk of death was 3.7% for bevacizumab and 3.4% for ranibizumab. Based on nine studies involving 3,665 participants, the estimated RR for all serious systemic adverse events (SSAEs) for bevacizumab compared with ranibizumab was 1.08 (95% CI, 0.90–1.31; P=0.41; low-quality evidence). Based on event rates in the studies, the risk of SSAEs was 24% for bevacizumab and 22.2% for ranibizumab.
“Our review found the systemic safety of bevacizumab for neovascular AMD to be similar to that of ranibizumab, except for gastrointestinal disorders, which was a part of a secondary analysis,” the authors write.
Several authors were investigators in the trials included in this review.
