Short- and long-term safety profile and efficacy of topical bevacizumab (Avastin®) eye drops against corneal neovascularization

Abstract

Off-label topical bevacizumab therapy against corneal neovascularization secondary to different corneal diseases was generally well-tolerated for up to 12 months. Bevacizumab (Avastin) eye drops inhibit corneal neovascularization, and lead to a reduction of the vessel diameter. Our results suggest that off-label use of Bevacizumab eye drops is a relatively safe and well-tolerated option for the treatment of corneal neovascularization. Care should be taken in patients with epithelial defects and neurotrophic keratopathy.

Cellular level characterization of capillary regression in inflammatory angiogenesis using an in vivo corneal model

“…Two rats were sutured and treated with one drop of topical bevacizumab (5 mg/ml) 4 times daily [22,24,25,29] and were followed for 7 days.…”

“…Steroids have long been used to promote the regression of undesirable neovessels and are well known for their anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic effect [15][16][17]. More recently, bevacizumab, a monoclonal VEGF-A antibody approved for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, has been widely used off-label to successfully induce regression in eye-related angiogenesis in cases of choroidal, retinal and corneal neovascularization in patients [18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…In both clinical and experimental studies, corneal capillary regression is commonly evaluated by degree of vascular invasion at the tissue level, using photography of visible blood vessels, fluorescein angiography, or by immunostaining of vascular endothelium at fixed time points [17,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Little, however, is known about the morphologic characteristics of regressing capillaries at the cellular level following therapy.…”

Corneal angiogenesis based on different protocols of alkaline cauterization in murine models

“…gov/ij/; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA) 22 . A test system containing 110 points was positioned over the photographic images 9,23 . The percentage of the area that was occupied by vessels was calculated with the (PV x 100)/PC formula, where PV represents the number of points that touch the vessels, and PC represents the number of points that touch the corneas.…”

“…Due to its transparency and anatomical location, it facilitates the monitorization of vascular responses, and allows their quantification using biomicroscopy. Different protocols have been proposed for the experimental induction of angiogenesis in the cornea [6][7][8][9] . Twenty-four male rats (Rattus norvegicus, Wistar lineage), aged between 3 and 4 months, from the vivarium of the General Administration, UNESP, were used in this study.…”