Table 2. Efficacy data in neoadjuvant trials investigating bevacizumab.

Study	Clinical phase	No. of cases	Standard neoadjuvant regimen	pCR definition	Treatment arms	pCR (breast and axilla) (%)			DFS	OS	Subgroups with prominent therapeutic effect
						All	HR+	HR–
GeparQuinto [48]	Phase III		4 Cycles of epirubicin-cyclophosphamide followed by 4 cycles of docetaxel (early nonresponders excluded)	ypT0 N0	8 Cycles of bevacizumab concomitantly with standard NAT	18.4*	7.7	39.3*	At 3 yr: 80.8%	At 3 yr: 90.7%	TN, cT1-3, non-lobular, grade 3
					Standard NAT	14.9*	7.8	27.9*	At 3 yr: 81.5%	At 3 yr: 88.7%
NSABP B-40 [62]	Phase III	1,186	4 Cycles of docetaxel (+/– capecitabine or gemcitabine) followed by 4 cycles doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide	ypT0 N0	6 Cycles bevacizumab concomitantly with standard NAT	27.6	16.8*	NR	At 4.7 yr: hazard ratio: 0.8 (p=0.06)	At 4.7 yr: hazard ratio: 0.65* (p=0.004)	HR+, grade 3, node negatives
					10 Cycles of bevacizumab postoperatively
					Standard NAT	23	11.1*	NR
ARTemis [65]	Phase III	781	3 Cycles of docetaxel followed by 3 cycles of 5-FU+epirubicin+cyclophosphamide	ypT0/Tis N0	4 Cycles of bevacizumab concomitantly with standard NAT	22*	6	45*	NR	NR	TN, grade 3
					Standard NAT	17*	7	31*
CALGB 40601 [45]	Phase II	443	12 Cycles of paclitaxel followed by 4 cycles of dose-dense doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide (+/– 4 cycles of carboplatin)	ypT0 N0	9 Cycles of bevacizumab concomitantly with standard NAT	52	-	-	NR	NR	-
					Standard NAT	44	-	-
SWOG S0800 [66]	Phase II	215	12 Cycles of nab-paclitaxel followed by 6 cycles of doxorubicin- cyclophosphamide	ypT0/Tis N0	6 Cycles of bevacizumab concomitantly with standard NAT	36*	24.2	59.4*	Hazard ratio: 0.89 (p=0.71)	Hazard ratio: 0.84 (p=0.64)	TN
					Standard NAT	21*	18	28.6*

pCR=pathological complete response; HR+=hormone receptor positive; HR–=hormone receptor negative; DFS=disease-free survival; OS=overall survival; NAT=neoadjuvant therapy; TN=triple-negative; NR=no result; FU=follow-up.

^*Significant results.