Bevacizumab for malignant pleural effusion in ovarian clear cell carcinoma: a case report

Objective: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a major problem associated with late phase of epithelial ovarian cancer for which an optimum treatment consensus has yet to be determined. Although bevacizumab (Bev), a VEGF ligand inhibitor, has been shown to effectively control MPE, the clinical benefit of half-dose Bev treatment to control MPE remains unclear. Methods: We describe a patient with platinum-sensitive ovarian clear cell cancer (OCCC) and symptomatic MPE for whom tumor markers increased after one cycle of paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapy. After switching to five cycles of Bev plus paclitaxel/carboplatin chemotherapy, we observed the disappearance of MPE. Conclusion: The half-dose Bev therapy may be an effective treatment for MPE in OCCC. However, further investigation is still warranted to evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of Bev.