FDA approves avastin for late-stage cervical cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Genentech, Inc. has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Avastin (bevacizumab) for the treatment of patients with late-stage cervical cancer that is persistent, recurrent, or metastatic.

Treatment with Avastin should be in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin or paclitaxel and topotecan. Avastin is also approved to treat patients with glioblastoma multiforme, metastatic colorectal cancer,  metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. For cervical cancer, Avastin should be given at a dose of 15 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks.

Overall survival for patients with cervical cancer treated with chemotherapy plus Avastin had an overall survival of 16.8 months versus 12.9 months if treated with chemotherapy alone.

Avastin blocks angiogenesis and endothelial cell proliferation by binding to VEGF and preventing the interaction of VEGF to its receptors. Patients treated with Avastin should be advised to undergo routine blood pressure screenings and notified of the increased risk of wound healing complications, arterial thromboembolic events, and gastrointestinal perforation.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that at least 12,300 women in the United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,000 will die as a result of the disease.