• Slimming Products
    • Fatfix
    • Slimberry
    • Piperine Forte
    • Slimjoy
    • Slimy Liquid
    • Revolyn Keto Burn
    • Keto Tropfen
    • Reduslim
    • Vitalrin
    • Ultra Rev
    • Keto Guru
    • Purosalin
    • Slim XR
    • Vanefist Neo
    • Herzolex Ultra
    • Sliminazer
    • Idealica
    • Black Latte
    • GC Rocket
    • Formoline L112
    • Panaslim
    • Refigura
    • Slimymed
  • Painkiller
    • Jointfuel360
    • Hondrostrong
    • Arthrolon
    • Flexa Plus Optima
    • Sustafix
    • Flexumgel
  • Reviews
    • Testonyl
    • Parazitol
    • Detonic
    • Sarahs Blessing
    • Recardio
    • Cardiline
    • Mindinsole
    • Detoxic
    • Nuubu
    • Viscerex
    • Nutresin
    • Rezilin
  • Guides
  • Potency Funds
    • Maral Gel
    • Eroxel
    • Maxatin
    • Urotrin
    • Viarax
    • Viraxol
    • Erogen X
    • Collosel
    • Potencialex
  • Beauty
    • Veona
    • Varicofix
    • Vibrosculpt
    • Varikosette
  • Foot Care
    • Onycosolve
    • Fungonis Gel
    • Micinorm
  • Home
  • Uncategorized
  • Avastin Doesn’t Benefit Breast Cancer Patients, Study Confirms
  • 28. January 2021
  • 0 comments
  • Maria Bauer
  • Uncategorized

Avastin Doesn’t Benefit Breast Cancer Patients, Study Confirms

The drug Avastin neither prolongs the lives of breast cancer patients nor improves their quality of life, a new review of several randomized control trials of the drug confirms.

Researchers found that women with metastatic breast cancer who took Avastin along with their chemotherapy treatments survived about two to six weeks longer than those who took a placebo with their chemotherapy — but the difference between the groups could have been due to chance or factors other than the drug, according to the study.

Additionally, women’s responses to surveys assessing their physical well-being and how well they  function in their daily lives found no improvement among those taking Avastin.

Avastin (known generically as bevacizumab) received fast-track approval as a treatment for breast cancer from the Food and Drug Administration in 2008, but the agency revoked this approval in November 2011, when follow-up studies showed women taking the drug did not live longer than those not taking it. The new review confirms the results of these studies.

The drug is still approved as a treatment for colon cancer and certain types of lung cancer and brain cancer.

The new review was published July 10 in the journal the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Avastin for breast cancer patients

In their review, the researchers assessed seven randomized control trials that included more than 4,000 women with metastatic breast cancer, as well as a cancer registry, and five ongoing trials.

“I think that [Avastin] might be useful in special situations, for example, in patients with a high tumor burden,” said study researcher Dorothea Wagner, of the Multidisciplinary Oncology Center in Switzerland. But she emphasized that “there is no benefit from adding Avastin to chemotherapy in the overall population.”

The drug is believed to work by limiting the blood supply that brings oxygen to a tumor. However, it also appears to fuel the growth of cancer stem cells, which rebound to cause the cancer stem cell growth to quickly overpower any benefit the tumor reduction brought.

The study showed that Avastin “prolongs the time to a tumor progression, but does not increase survival time,” said Dr. Max Wicha, director of the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study.

Furthermore, the side effects associated with the drug, which include hypertension, bleeding and perforations (small holes) in the intestines, were severe enough that overall, patients reported no improvement in their quality of life while taking the drug, Wicha said.

Wicha added that he thinks it likely that Avastin will prove to be an important part of cancer treatment, but that it will have to be used in conjunction with another medication that limits the growth of cancer stem cells.

Side effects

The side effects associated with Avastin may be difficult to assess, however, because the drug is often given in conjunction with chemotherapy. Patients “don’t really know which side effect to attribute to which treatment,” said Dr. David Miles, a clinical cancer physician at Mount Vernon Hospital in England, and a researcher on one of the randomized control trials reviewed in the study.

In Miles’ study, 10 percent of patients withdrew from Avastin treatment because of the side effects, but 10 percent of participants also withdrew from the placebo treatment due to side effects, he said.

If a drug neither prolongs life in breast cancer patients, nor improves quality of life, there is no reason why it should be prescribed for them, Wicha said, though he acknowledged that more research should be done to assess whether Avastin might help certain subgroups of women.

The new study noted that patients who had been treated with chemotherapy saw a greater benefit from treatment with Avastin.

Miles, who practices medicine in the United Kingdom where Avastin is still approved as a breast cancer treatment, said he feels decisions about when to use the drug should “come down to the clinician and patient, while the jury is out.”

Both Miles and Wicha said that the new review was one of the largest and most comprehensive analyses to date of Avastin use in breast cancer treatment.

Pass it on: The breast cancer drug Avastin neither prolongs survival nor improves quality of life, but there may still be potential for it to become part of breast cancer treatment.

Follow MyHealthNewsDaily on Twitter @MyHealth_MHND. Find us on Facebook and Google+.

  • 6 Things Women Can Do to Lower Breast Cancer Risk
  • Avastin’s Failure in Breast Cancer: New Study May Explain Why It Happened
  • 7 Cancers You Can Ward Off with Exercise
Maria-Cakehealth
Maria Bauer

Maria is our expert for medicine, fitness and general health. Her contributions are particularly convincing through completeness, accuracy and her own personal experience. Maria also writes for other health magazines, which has enabled her to build up her expert status.

Leave Comment

or cancel reply

Suche
Beliebte Beiträge
  • 7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health
    • 18. February 2021
    • 0
  • For Women, Sex May Be Improved by ‘Mindfulness Meditation’
    • 18. February 2021
    • 0
  • Autistic Brain Excels at Recognizing Patterns
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Swine Flu May Cause Baldness
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Dogs’ Contagious Cancer Cells May Survive By Theft
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Are You Sitting Down? If You’re a College Senior, Probably
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • New Test May Screen Donated Blood for Fatal Disease-Causing Proteins
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Exercise Can’t Undo the Damage of Too Much Screen Time
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Melanoma Drug Shrinks Tumors, Study Finds
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Co-Conspirator Cells Contribute to Skin Cancer
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • YouTube May Help Elderly Dementia Patients
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Brain Functioning Decline Higher in Southern ‘Stroke Belt’
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • 8 Tips for Healthy Aging
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Alzheimer’s Vs. Normal Aging: How to Tell the Difference
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Soy Compounds May Cut Risk of Some Breast Cancers
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Estrogen May Curb Breast Cancer As Well As Promote It
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Flu Season Worse Than Usual
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Most Young Flu Victims Had Not Been Vaccinated, Fatality Report Says
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Indoor Tanners Use Beds Despite Boosting Skin Cancer Risk
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Gene Therapy May Ease Tremors in Parkinson’s Patients
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Alzheimer’s Often Misdiagnosed Until Later On
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • In Trauma Patients, Steroids May Reduce Pneumonia Risk
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Will USDA’s New ‘Plate’ Icon Make a Difference in American Diets?
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Can Changing Your Diet Decrease Your Risk of Alzheimer’s?
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Preventive Measures Against Alzheimer’s Still Uncertain, Report Finds
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Exercise During Pregnancy Benefits Baby’s Heart
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Hypertension Death Rate Drops, But Fatalities Still High
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • More Years of Schooling Have Healthful Effect on Blood Pressure
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Heavy Beer Drinkers Increase Their Gastric Cancer Risk
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Weight Gain: How Food Actually Puts on Pounds
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Want a Smaller Waist? Take More Breaks From Sitting
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • New Rules on Vitamin D and Calcium: Most People Get Enough
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • For Melanoma Patients, Arthritis Drug Could Treat Disease
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Brain Overgrowth in Tots Is Linked to Autism
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Airborne Mad Cow Disease Possible, But Unlikely
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Most High School Kids Don’t Get Enough Exercise, CDC Reports
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Is the 17 Day Diet Just Another Weight-Loss Gimmick?
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Lead Exposure May Delay Puberty in Girls
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • The Healthy Geezer: Does Mercury Cause Cancer?
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • 11% of Infants Born Preterm Worldwide
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Severe Morning Sickness Linked to Preterm Births
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • More Money and No Dad Could Mean Early Puberty in Girls
    • 9. February 2021
    • 0
  • Too Little or Too Much Sleep May Raise Heart, Stroke Risks
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0
  • Relapse Common for Teens Who Overcome Depression
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0
  • Repeated Miscarriages May Increase Women’s Heart Attack Risk
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0
  • Earlier Detection of Dangerous Ectopic Pregnancies Possible with New Marker
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0
  • It’s in the Blood: New Hope for Detecting Schizophrenia
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0
  • Alcohol Abuse May Lead to Marriage Postponement, Separation
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0
  • Marriage Trouble Could Mean Poor Sleep for Baby
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0
  • Weight-Loss Surgery May Improve Memory
    • 8. February 2021
    • 0

Copyright © 2020 by cakehealth.com

Impressum|Data Protection | Sitemap EN|Sitemap DE