The New England Journal of Medicine released the results of two large, international studies recently that seem to indicate the drug Avastin could help ovarian cancer patients. The first study was conducted by treating two independent groups of patients in the advanced stages of the disease and the drug appeared to delay the growth of the cancer by an average of 3.5 months, according to the findings.
By adding Avastin, which is also known by the generic name Bevacizumab, to the standard chemotherapy treatments of patients, it appeared to slow and/or stop the growth of blood vessels feeding the cancerous tumors, stabilizing their growth. The European Commission recently approved Avastin for treating women who were recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, but it has not yet been approved by the FDA to treat women for the disease in the U.S., although it has been approved for treating kidney, brain and colon cancers.
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