Cancer Drug Avastin Helps Treat Advanced Cervical Cancer

A new study presented at the June 2 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) suggests that adding Avastin, also known as bevacizumab, to standard chemotherapy treatments, could prolong overall survival for women with cervical cancer by an average of four months compared to chemotherapy treatments alone.

Researchers looked at 452 women who were treated with one of two standard chemotherapy regimens, including topotecan and paclitaxel or cispatin and paclitaxel. Half of the participants were also randomly assigned to receive Avastin.

According to an ASCO new release, study results showed:

• The median survival rate for patients who received Avastin plus chemotherapy was 17.0 months vs. 13.3 months for those who had chemo only.
• Tumor shrinkage rates were higher in patients who received Avastin (48 percent) vs. those who did not (36 percent).
• Avastin in combination with chemotherapy reduced the risk of death by 29 percent compared to chemotherapy alone.
• There were no significant differences in survival rates between the two chemotherapy regimens.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 40,000 women in the U.S. die from cervical cancer each year.

"Women with advanced cervical cancer don't have many options. We finally have a drug that helps women live longer," said lead study author Krishnansu Sujata Tawari, MD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Irvine, in the ASCO new release.

"We finally have a drug that helps women live longer," said Tewari, who presented data from the study on Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago, via Reuters.

However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the drug for treating cervical cancer, and according to HealthDay News, treatment using Avastin costs up to $5,000 a month.

Some side effects associated with Avastin can also be troubling, including but not limited to a rare but serious neurological disorder, with symptoms such as headache, confusion, vision problems, feeling very weak or tired, fainting, and seizure (blackout or convulsions).