Summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a short injection of a drug called bevacizumab into the abdominal cavity (known as intraperitoneal infusion) after drainage of excess fluid in the abdomen may delay the return of the ascites compared to an injection of saline only. Bevacizumab is a type of targeted cancer drug treatment. Ascites is the medical name for a build up of fluid in the abdomen.
You may be eligible for this study if you are an adult with symptomatic, cytologically confirmed malignant ascites arising from a solid organ malignancy, excluding pancreatic cancer. In addition, you are either not receiving or not planned to receive additional systemic anti-cancer treatment for the duration of the study treatment.
Eligible participants will be randomly allocated to either receive bevacizumab with saline, or saline alone, into the abdominal cavity through an intraperitoneal infusion. This will be followed by a larger infusion of saline over a 30-60 minute period. This therapeutic drainage process may be repeated for re-accumulation of ascites during the study period, if required. Data from participant electronic medical records and quality of life questionnaires will be collected.
It is hoped that this research will help demonstrate the potential activity of bevacizumab to decrease or delay the re-accumulation of malignant ascites.