A Phase II clinical trial is under way at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in conjunction with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine to determine if bevacizumab (also referred to as Avastin., an anti-angiogenesis drug that is designed to inhibit the growth of blood vessels in tumors) in combination with abdominal radiation therapy and chemotherapy can reduce localized pancreatic tumors that have not metastasized or spread to other systems or organs in the body.
Northwestern Memorial is the sole clinical site where the research trial is being conducted.
Mark Talamonti, MD, chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, associate professor of surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and co-investigator on the study recently reported on a complementary trial, which looked at the effects of combining only chemotherapy and radiation on localized tumors. The results appeared in the February 2006 issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.
"Our findings from the previous study suggest that the combination of chemotherapy and radiation is a safe and effective treatment method to reduce the local extent of pancreatic tumors," said Dr. Talamonti.