Avastin (bevacizumab) was approved in the United States late last year for women with recurrent ovarian cancer that had become resistant to chemo drugs known as platinums.
That approval was based on a clinical trial finding that Avastin helped shrink or stall ovarian tumors, though it did not prolong women’s lives.
The new study is different, partly because it involved women who were still sensitive to platinum drugs, said lead researcher Dr. Robert Coleman, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.
It also looked at the benefits of having a second surgery: Half of the study patients were assigned to surgery plus chemo; the other half had the same treatment, plus Avastin — which works by cutting off tumors’ blood supply.
Overall, women who received Avastin lived longer — typically 42 months, versus 37 months. They also went longer with no cancer progression (about 14 months, vs. 10 months.)
However, that difference in survival did not quite reach “statistical significance,” noted Dr. Leslie Randall, another SGO spokesperson who was not involved in the study. That means it could be a chance finding.
“I think there will be a lot of debate over how significant that overall-survival finding is,” said Randall. “It’s positive, but not overwhelmingly so.”
Still, she stressed the “good news”: The trial confirms that Avastin can prolong the time a woman remains progression-free.
The drug is pricey — costing several thousand per month — and carries side effects: In this trial, infections, joint pain and gut perforations were among the most serious ones.
But most women did not suffer those problems, Coleman noted. And in general, he said, Avastin is “well-tolerated.”
Randall said more research is needed to figure out which women stand to benefit most from the drug. It’s not only extra time that patients value, she added — it’s also the quality of that time.
Everyone agreed that the research being reported at the meeting shows progress against a disease where there had long been little headway.
“It’s still largely incurable,” Randall said. “But it is becoming increasingly treatable with newer surgeries, chemotherapy and targeted therapies.”
According to the American Cancer Society, about 21,300 U.S. women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year, and 14,200 will die from the disease.
More information
The American Cancer Society has more on ovarian cancer.
New Vaccine May Slow Progression Of Ovarian Cancer was originally published on blackdoctor.org
