“What should I inject next?” Challenging treatment decisions in the multiple anti-VEGF: a review of publications exploring anti-VEGF switching for nAMD

PURPOSE: The purpose of our work was to collate information from studies published to date focusing on switching in anti-VEGF therapy and describe the currently available data on anti-VEGF switching in nAMD. METHODS: A PubMed search of published articles from January 2010 to January 2017 was conducted. Published studies were compared in parameters of sample size, reason for switch, duration of follow-up, and switch outcome (functional and anatomical). RESULTS: Our search revealed 31 relevant publications. Switching from bevacizumab to ranibizumab mostly resulted in improvement in visual acuity (VA) and anatomical outcomes (CMT, CRT; 7/8 and 6/8 studies, respectively), whereas switching from ranibizumab to bevacizumab was less effective (no VA or anatomical improvement in 2/4 studies). Switching from either agent to aflibercept resulted mostly in improvement of anatomical outcomes (19/21 studies), but rarely in VA improvement (6/21 studies). Not all results were statistically significant, likely due to small sample sizes. CONCLUSION: Switching anti-VEGF therapy from bevacizumab to ranibizumab might be of benefit (functionally and anatomically) for patients who failed to improve with intravitreal bevacizumab injections, whereas switching from either agent to aflibercept resulted mostly in reduced macular thickness only.