Colorectal cancer patients benefited when they continued to include Avastin® (bevacizumab) in their chemotherapy plan after their cancer got worse after initial treatment.

They lived longer after beginning a second round of chemotherapy with Avastin than did other patients who got chemo without Avastin or those who didn’t get any chemotherapy at all.

The results are based on the ARIES study which observed patients after cancer progressed after either first or second line chemotherapy with Avastin.  The analysis will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in June. Read the rest of this entry »

Colorectal cancer patients 65 and older without other serious medical problems benefitted when Avastin® (bevacizumab) was added to chemotherapy.

Combining results of four randomized clinical trials of Avastin and chemotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, researchers found that adding Avastin increased both the time older patients lived and the time before their cancer got worse.

Patients who were 70 and older had similar improvements. Read the rest of this entry »

When Avastin® (bevacizumab) was added to standard chemotherapy after surgery, it didn’t reduce the risk that early stage colon cancer would return, according to a press release this morning from Genentech.

NSABP C-08 randomly assigned patients with stage II or III colon cancer to FOLFOX chemotherapy with or without additional Avastin.  During the Phase III clinical trial, all patients received FOLFOX (oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and infused 5-FU) every two weeks for six months.  Half also got Avastin with each treatment plus an additional six months of Avastin only.

The study’s primary objective was disease-free survival, defined as lack of recurrence, another new cancer, or death for any reason.  According to Genentech, adding Avastin to chemotherapy didn’t do any better job of meeting this goal than chemotherapy alone.

Information from the trial will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting at the beginning of June.

Read the rest of this entry »

Continuing Avastin® (bevacizumab) beyond the time when advanced colorectal cancer gets worse helps patients, according to new study reports.  Patients who continued to receive Avastin with a new chemotherapy regimen after their cancer first progressed lived almost 12 months longer than patients who got more chemo but stopped Avastin.  Both groups did better than those who had no further treatment at all.

BRiTE (Bevacizumab Regimens: Investigation of Treatment Effects and Safety) observed progress of three groups of patients when their cancer got worse after their first chemotherapy treatments.  All patients had Avastin as part of the first chemo, some continued it beyond that first cancer progression. Read the rest of this entry »