BACKGROUND: Bevacizumab, a humanized recombinant anti-vascular endothelial 
growth factor antibody, was approved in Canada in 2010 for the treatment of 
high-grade glioma. We report the effectiveness and safety of bevacizumab in the 
treatment of patients with recurrent high-grade gliomas at a single institution.
METHODS: Twenty-seven consecutive patients with high-grade glioma (anaplastic 
glioma and glioblastoma) at first or subsequent relapse were treated with 
bevacizumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was 
progression-free survival (PFS) and secondary endpoints were objective response 
rate, six month PFS, overall survival (OS), and safety profile.
RESULTS: The clinical benefit rate (complete and partial responses plus stable 
disease) was 59%. Median PFS was 4.3 (95% CI, 3.0-10.9) months, with a six month 
PFS rate of 43%. Median OS after current relapse was 8.9 (95% CI, 5.8-not 
reached) months. Ten episodes of grade 3/4 adverse events were observed in nine 
patients, including fatigue (n = 3), thrombocytopenia (n = 4), and 
myelotoxicity, febrile neutropenia, and pulmonary embolism (each n = 1).
CONCLUSIONS: We consider the efficacy and safety profile of bevacizumab is 
comparable to other cohorts of patients treated for recurrent high-grade glioma 
at other international institutions.