Avastin News and Research

RSS

Avastin is a biologic antibody designed to specifically bind to a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that plays an important role throughout the lifecycle of the tumor to develop and maintain blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis. Avastin is designed to interfere with the blood supply to a tumor by directly binding to the VEGF protein to prevent interactions with receptors on blood vessel cells. Avastin does not bind to receptors on normal or cancer cells. The tumor blood supply is thought to be critical to a tumor’s ability to grow and spread in the body (metastasize).

Further evidence that angiogenesis drugs can be much more effective when combined with chemotherapy

Scientists have thought that one way to foil a tumor from generating blood vessels to feed its growth - a process called angiogenesis - was by creating drugs aimed at stopping a key vessel growth-promoting protein.

10 Nov 2008

Cost of treating colorectal cancer varies widely

The cost of treating colorectal cancer varies widely, with newer, life-extending therapies sometimes costing tens of thousands of dollars more than older agents, according to a study led by a team of researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

8 Nov 2008

Anti-VEGF drugs for retinal diseases could have serious side effects

Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that reducing the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is best known as a stimulator of new blood vessel growth, in adult mice causes the death of photoreceptors and Muller glia -- cells of the retina that are essential to visual function.

3 Nov 2008

Genentech submits application to FDA for Avastin in the most aggressive form of brain cancer

Genentech has announced that the company submitted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Avastin (bevacizumab) as a therapy for people with previously treated glioblastoma. If accepted by the FDA, the application would be considered for an accelerated approval that allows provisional approval of medicines for cancer or other life-threatening diseases based on preliminary evidence suggesting clinical benefit.

3 Nov 2008

Genentech announces phase III study of Avastin plus chemotherapy in adjuvant colon cancer will continue

Genentech, Inc. today announced that it has been informed by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) that an ongoing Phase III study (NSABP C-08) of Avastin (bevacizumab) plus chemotherapy in patients with early-stage colon cancer will continue as planned.

20 Oct 2008

Trastuzumab-DM1 - a 'smart bomb' for breast cancer treatment

Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) investigators have found that "smart bomb" therapies are effective in treating breast cancer patients while minimizing side effects.

7 Sep 2008

Nanomaterials key to new strategies for blocking metastasis

A new treatment strategy using targeted nanoparticles to block metastasis with anti-cancer drugs leads to good results using significantly lower doses of toxic chemotherapy, with less collateral damage to surrounding tissue, according to a collaborative team of researchers at the Center of Nanotechnology for Treatment, Understanding, and Monitoring of Cancer at the University of California, San Diego. In designing this system, the investigators, led by David Cheresh, Ph.D., have identified what may become a generic method for using nanotechnology to target metastasis.

9 Jul 2008

Grassley inquiry into fast-tracking of Avastin drug applications could hurt cancer drug development, patients

Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) request that the Government Accountability Office investigate whether FDA acted appropriately in granting "accelerated approval" to a cancer drug "will have a catastrophic effect on America's ability to develop new drugs," Mark Thornton, a former medical officer in FDA's Office of Oncology Drug Products and president of the Sarcoma Foundation of America, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

30 May 2008

First patient enrolled in phase III study of Bevacizumab and Trastuzumab in early breast cancer

A new international study for women with HER2-positive breast cancer is open for enrollment. The pivotal BETH (BEvacizumab and Trastuzumab Adjuvant Therapy in HER2-positive Breast Cancer) study is a Phase III clinical research trial that is investigating the benefits of combining two monoclonal antibodies, the anti-angiogenic, bevacizumab (Avastin) and the targeted therapy trastuzumab (Herceptin), together with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer.

27 May 2008

Discovery of new cell targets for preventing growth of breast and other tumors

Researchers at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered new targets for cancer treatment aimed at blocking a key step in tumor progression.

23 Apr 2008

Genentech updates on phase III study of Avastin plus chemo in first-line, advanced, non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer

Genentech, Inc. has announced an update for the previously reported Roche-sponsored international Phase III clinical study (AVAiL) of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy, in patients with advanced, non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

21 Apr 2008

FDA approves expansion of NeoVista's phase 3 study for wet AMD

NeoVista, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company's request to expand the number of sites participating in its pivotal Phase 3 trial from 10 to 30 in the United States.

17 Apr 2008

Promising Australian cancer drug on show in the U.S.

A cancer drug in the process of being developed by two Australian companies has shown promising results in preliminary trials on animals.

16 Apr 2008

Benefits of some cancer drugs exaggerated because trials were stopped early

Italian scientists say the benefits of some cancer drugs may be exaggerated as a rising number of trials are stopped early.

9 Apr 2008

T-cadherin affects blood vessel growth in breast cancer, hormone from fat cells may play a role

Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) may have found a new option for targeted breast cancer therapy by showing the link between a certain protein and the formation and development of blood vessels that feed breast tumors.

7 Apr 2008

Glioblastoma multiforme responds to new treatment

One of the toughest cancers to treat effectively is glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common form of primary brain cancer.

28 Feb 2008

New way to grow blood vessels

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found a previously unknown molecular pathway in mice that spurs the growth of new blood vessels when body parts are jeopardized by poor circulation.

21 Feb 2008

Researchers explain why Avastin can cause potentially fatal brain inflammation

New research by scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute may help explain why the anti-cancer drug Avastin, which targets a growth factor responsible for creation of new blood vessels, causes potentially fatal brain inflammation in certain patients.

14 Feb 2008

Avastin cancer drug does well in breast cancer study

A new study on the cancer drug Avastin has found that when the drug is combined with chemotherapy it slowed down the progression of breast cancer.

13 Feb 2008

Avastin (bevacizumab) damages brain vessels

The cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) is used to treat advanced bowel cancer in combination with chemotherapy.

12 Feb 2008