In clinical trials, the overall incidence of arterial thromboembolic events ranged up to 3.8% in the Avastin containing arms compared with up to 1.7% in the chemotherapy control arms. Fatal outcome was reported in 0.8% of patients receiving Avastin compared to 0.5% in patients receiving chemotherapy alone. Cerebrovascular accidents (including transient ischemic attacks) were reported in up to 2.3% of patients treated with Avastin in combination with chemotherapy compared to 0.5% of patients treated with chemotherapy alone. Myocardial infarction was reported in 1.4% of patients treated with Avastin in combination with chemotherapy compared to 0.7% of patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

In one clinical trial eva luating Avastin in combination with 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid, AVF2192g, patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who were not candidates for treatment with irinotecan were included. In this trial arterial thromboembolic events were observed in 11% (11/100) of patients compared to 5.8% (6/104) in the chemotherapy control group.

Venous thromboembolism: The incidence of venous thromboembolic events in clinical trials was similar in patients receiving Avastin in combination with chemotherapy compared to those receiving the control chemotherapy alone. Venous thromboembolic events include deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and thrombophlebitis.

In clinical trials across indications, the overall incidence of venous thromboembolic events ranged from 2.8% to 17.3% of Avastin-treated patients compared with 3.2% to 15.6% in the control arms.

Grade 3-5 venous thromboembolic events have been reported in up to 7.8% of patients treated with chemotherapy plus bevacizumab compared with up to 4.9% in patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

Patients who have experienced a venous thromboembolic event may be at higher risk for a recurrence if they receive Avastin in combination with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone.

Congestive heart failure (CHF)

In clinical trials with Avastin, congestive heart failure (CHF) was observed in all cancer indications studied to date, but occurred predominantly in patients with metastatic breast cancer. In four phase III trials (AVF2119g, E2100, BO17708 and AVF3694g) in patients with metastatic breast cancer CHF Grade 3 or higher was reported in up to 3.5% of patients treated with Avastin in combination with chemotherapy compared with up to 0.9% in the control arms. For patients in study AVF3694g who received anthracyclines concomitantly with bevacizumab, the incidences of grade 3 or higher CHF for the respective bevacizumab and control arms were similar to those in the other studies in metastatic breast cancer: 2.9% in the anthracycline + bevacizumab arm and 0% in the anthracycline + placebo arm. In addition, in study AVF3694g the incidences of all grade CHF were similar between the anthracycline + Avastin (6.2%) and the anthracycline + placebo arms (6.0%).

Most patients who developed CHF during mBC trials showed improved symptoms and/or left ventricular function following appropriate medical therapy.

In most clinical trials of Avastin, patients with pre-existing CHF of NYHA (New York Heart Association) II-IV were excluded, therefore, no information is available on the risk of CHF in this population.

Prior anthracyclines e