EvidenceUpdates - Bevacizumab (Avastin) increases risk for severe proteinuria in cancer patients including professional commentaries

article link:
http://plus.mcmaster.ca/EvidenceUpdates/NewArticles.aspx?Page=1&ArticleID=35795#Data

abstract link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20538785?dopt=Abstract

Avastin, Cancer Drug, Can Cause Kidney Damage - ABC News + patient response/ovarian cancer (proteinuria)

"........The manifestation of proteinuria, even significant proteinuria with therapy, was seen in those pilot studies," said Dr. Bryan Becker, president of the National Kidney Foundation, who is not affiliated with the group that carried out the current study.

However, some doctors said the incidence of proteinuria with the treatment is not a cause for alarm.

"The 2 to 3 percent that have proteinuria is minor," said Dr. Otis Brawley, the American Cancer Society's chief medical and scientific officer, who likewise had no involvement with this research.

It also doesn't concern 46-year-old Julie Del Giorno, a Pennsylvania woman who took Avastin to treat her ovarian cancer as part of a clinical trial last year.

Luckily, she now has no signs of cancer left.

"I'm doing really well. Everything's been fine -- my CT scans have been normal," she said.

After reading about the side effects of Avastin and consulting with her doctor, she decided to give it a try.

"There are always risks involved, and I had trust in the doctors I was working with that it was a good option," she said"....cont'd

Rapid Development of Hypertension and Proteinuria with Cediranib, an Oral Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor -- Robinson et al. 5 (3): 477 -- Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Conclusions: Cediranib induced a rapid but variable rise in BP within 3 days of initiation in most patients. Proteinuria was common and also developed rapidly. The rapid development of hypertension suggests that acute inhibition of VEGF-dependent vasodilation might explain the BP rise with VEGF inhibitors. Clinicians must be vigilant in early detection and management of toxicities of this expanding drug class, especially in older patients.

JAMA -- Relation Between Kidney Function, Proteinuria, and Adverse Outcomes (full free access)