Combining bevacizumab with temozolomide increases the antitumor efficacy of temozolomide in a human glioblastoma orthotopic xenograft model

Purpose: The aims of the present work were to investigate the in vitro and in vivo antiangiogenic effects of chronic temozolomide treatment on various glioma models and to demonstrate whether bevacizumab (Avastin) increased the therapeutic benefits contributed by temozolomide in glioma.

Experimental design: The expression levels of various antiangiogenic factors in four glioma cell lines were evaluated after chronic in vitro treatment with temozolomide by Western blot. Proliferation and migration assays were performed on human endothelial cells incubated with supernatants of glioma cells treated with and without temozolomide. Orthotopic glioma models were used to evaluate the antiangiogenic effects of temozolomide in vivo and the therapeutic benefits of different temozolomide treatment schedules used alone or in combination with bevacizumab.

Results: Temozolomide, a proautophagic and proapoptotic drug, decreased the expression levels of HIF-1alpha, ID-1, ID-2, and cMyc in the glioma models investigated, all of which playing major roles in angiogenesis and the switch to hypoxic metabolism. These changes could be, at least partly, responsible for the impairment of angiogenesis observed in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, combining bevacizumab with temozolomide increased the survival of glioma-bearing mice in comparison to each compound administered alone.

Conclusions: In addition to the numerous mechanisms of action already identified for temozolomide, we report here that it also exerts antitumor effects by impairing angiogenic processes. We further emphasize that bevacizumab, which is an antiangiogenic drug with a different mechanism of action, could be useful in combination with temozolomide to increase the latter's therapeutic benefit in glioma patients.