Objective: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a rare disease of the airway for which there is no known cure. Treatment involves the surgical removal or destruction of these lesions. There has been a long-standing debate over the effectiveness of the adjuvant intralesional injection of the immune modifying agent bevacizumab. This study is a systematic review investigating the effect of adjuvant intralesional bevacizumab on patients with laryngeal papillomatosis. The main objective was to assess functional outcomes and efficacy.
Data sources: Pubmed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science.
Review methods: Search words were "intralesional bevacizumab" AND "recurrent respiratory papillomatosis." Sources were systematically identified using inclusion and exclusion criteria (ie, study publication must post-date 2000, must be peer-reviewed, investigate patients with RRP, apply bevacizumab intralesionally, not systemically). Findings were then collected and analyzed.
Results: Ten studies were included for analysis. The majority of these studies found an increase in the surgical interval, voice outcomes, and a decrease in tumor burden in most patients. No studies reported side effects or lasting complications related to the bevacizumab injection.
Conclusion: This systematic review provides further evidence for the safety of intralesional bevacizumab injections and their likely positive effect on disease control. Future research would benefit from the implementation of standardized documentation of RRP outcomes.
Keywords: Avastin; HPV; bevacizumab; papillomas; recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.