Review shows some benefit from Avastin (Genentech/Roche) for Breast Cancer patients

A new review finds that Avastin (bevacizumab), from Genentech/Roche, offers modest benefit in slowing disease progression in advanced-stage Breast Cancer patients. The study examined Avastin's efficacy when combined with conventional chemotherapy treatment, but no overall improvement in survival was noted using this combination.

The review examined seven trials involving 4,032 patients with Breast Cancer and found that adding Avastin to current drug regimens increased the time for tumour progression or death by between one and six months. The addition of Avastin to first- or second-line treatments had no effect on overall survival time or a patient's quality of life. Since improvements in progression-free survival did not tally with an increased overall survival time suggests that the former may not be a reliable metric in clinical trials, according to Anna Dorothea Wagner, of the Fondation du Centre Pluridisciplinaire d'Oncologie, University Hospital Lausanne, Switzerland. See: �Vascular-endothelial-growth-factor (VEGF) targeting therapies for endocrine refractory or resistant metastatic breast cancer.� Wagner AD et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 7. Article No: CD008941 (DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008941.pub2).