Bevacizumab-induced bowel perforation.

Bevacizumab has shown efficacy in many different malignancies and is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for advanced colon and lung cancers. As bevacizumab use is expanding, the number of reports of serious adverse effects from the drug are growing. Bowel perforation is a rare but often fatal event that leads the list of dangerous adverse effects. It has been frequently reported in ovarian cancer trials, with early closure of some trials because of the high incidence of bowel perforation. Physicians should be familiar with not only the presentation of bowel perforation, but also with the risk factors, considerations for surgery, and management of perforation in selected patient populations. The authors review the current knowledge on bevacizumab-induced bowel perforation.