Genes impact success of anti-VEGF treatment

The findings are the result of a real-life retrospective study that included 403 eyes from 403 consecutive patients treated with Lucentis (ranibizumab) at six Spanish tertiary care hospitals.DNA samples were genotyped for nine single nucleotide polymorphisms of six different genes – CFH, CFB, ARMS2, SERPINF1, VEGFR1 and VEGF – previously associated with AMD, including complent and angiogenesis genes as well as genes related to anti-VEGF response.{{quote-A:R-W:450-Q: Nongenetic factors including gender, age, smoking and hypertension were also assessed. }}According to the study, CFB, VEGFA and VEGFR1 were found to predispose patients to a good response, while SERPINF1 and CFH were associated with a poor response.Nongenetic factors including gender, age, smoking and hypertension were also assessed. Hypertension and, to a lesser extent smoking, were also associated with a poor response.In all cases, a loading dose of three monthly injections was administered, followed by as-needed treatment. Over 12 months of follow-up, patients were classified as good or poor responders based on visual acuity gain of at least five letters, central foveal thickness, and reduction or persistence of fluid on OCT.The authors of the study, published in Acta Ophthalmologica, highlighted the fact that this was the first real-life study with a large cohort of patients in whom genetic factors were evaluated as biomarkers of response to treatment.The most important novel finding was the association of SERPINF1 with poor visual acuity outcomes and reduction of central foveal thickness after treatment.