Following a  study made in 1873 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer found that administration of Avastin increased 39% chance of survival compared with the case of the ones following the chemotherapy treatment. The new study was mentioned at a meeting in Chicago of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Some oncologists are already using Avastin, a drug widely used successfully to treat lung cancer, colon and breast tumors, to treat ovarian cancer that has recurred, but such use has never been formally studied, according to the Los Angeles Times .

Ovarian cancer is the eight cancer type discovered among American women, approximately 22,000 women are diagnosed with this disease each year, from which 15,000 cases are fatal. Chemotherapy involves the use of powerful drugs, carboplatin and paclitaxel, which can have severe adverse effects.

Avastin, however, is directed to a natural protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, which is produced excessively in many cancer cases and stimulates growth of new blood vessels that nourish tumors. This means it has fewer side effects and represents an improvement of the treatment for ovarian cancer, said Dr. Robert A. Burger, who led the new study. Burger and his colleagues observed that during the 17 months of treatment in women who have undergone the cancer treatment with chemotherapy has been under control for 10 months before moving forward again, while in the case of women receiving Avastin, in addition to chemotherapy, this time increased to 14 months. The main adverse effects of this treatment were increases in blood pressure and gastrointestinal problems.



The active ingredient in Avastin is a humanized monoclonal antibody called bevacizumab. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that recognize and bind specific proteins characteristic for other bodies. Bevacizumab binds selectively to a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor for human (FCEV), which is found inside walls of blood vessels and lymph in the body. FCEV determine the growth of blood vessels inside the tumor, the tumor blood vessels supplying nutrients and oxygen.

Once linked to bevacizumab FCEV, it stops working and results the prevention of tumor expansion by blocking blood vessel growth that supplies nutrients and oxygen. Each box of Avastin concentrates the solution for infusion, containing a bottle. The vial contains either 4 ml or 16 ml of concentrated liquid, sterile, slightly opalescent, colorless to pale brown. The solution must be diluted before ussage in order to obtain the final solution for intravenous infusion.

Do not use Avastin if:
- you are allergic (hypersensitive) to bevacizumab or any of the other components of Avastin.
- you are allergic (hypersensitive) to drugs derived from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells or other human or recombinant humanised monoclonal antibodies.
- are pregnant.



Avastin was developed by Genentech Inc., the biotech company Roche listed separately in the United States and Roche has the right to market the product outside the U.S. market, if the request will be accepted.

After these results, Avastin could become a major product," said Humera, forecasts are that annual sales of the drug could reach two billion dollars."I believe that Avastin is likely to become a  MabThera drug - anti-cancer product. MabThera will surely overcome this year two billion Swiss francs (1.55 billion dollars) in sales. For Roche, the situation looks very promising, given that the new drugs appear to require very fast and reliable and feasible projects of the company that  attract other investors who were reluctant. World leader in cancer drugs and diagnostics, Roche has invested heavily in research and development, by supporting marketing and cut costs as it has been said.