Clinical Research Directory

Impact of Antihypertensive Therapy on Recurrence Risk of Ovarian Cancer for Bevacizumab-associated Hypertension

Antiangiogenic therapies like bevacizumab, have notably improved cancer treatment, including for gynecological cancers, by inhibiting the vascular endothelial growth factor and thus limiting tumor growth. In treating advanced ovarian cancer, bevacizumab has been shown to extend progression-free survival by four months, though it also induces or worsens hypertension in 2 to 19% of patients by affecting vascular nitric oxide production or by capillary rarefaction. This hypertension may result in severe cardiovascular events, necessitating the use of antihypertensive drugs like calcium channel blockers and RAAS inhibitors (angiotensin converting enzyme - ACE - inhibitors mainly), despite some concerns about their effects on VEGF secretion and CA125 levels. Clinical guidelines vary, with some favoring ACE inhibitors while others recommend calcium channel blockers, underlining the need for comparative studies on these drugs' oncological and cardiovascular impacts. To address these issues, this study utilizes an emulated trial approach, leveraging comprehensive data from the French National Health Data System to compare the efficacy of these antihypertensive classes in reducing relapse and improving survival in ovarian cancer patients treated with bevacizumab. The investigators will emulate a target clinical trial to compare the impact of antihypertensive treatments on outcomes of patients with bevacizumab-associated hypertension by ACE inhibitors (arm A) versus calcium channel blockers (CCBs, arm B) on the risk of ovarian cancer withdrawal after surgery.