Revolutionary Drug Kills Cancer by Cutting its Lifeline

Avastin (bevacizumab) Launches Today Giving Bowel Cancer Patients Fresh Hope

British patients with previously untreated advanced bowel cancer have the potential to benefit from today's launch of Avastin (bevacizumab). Avastin, which has been licensed for use in combination with chemotherapy, is a completely new class of cancer treatment. It starves the cancer of blood and oxygen, which it needs to grow - by targeting and choking the quick-growing blood vessels that feed it. In bowel cancer, adding Avastin to chemotherapy has been shown to increase survival by, on average, five months over the 15 months that chemotherapy brings.

"Avastin represents a significant step forward in the treatment of advanced bowel cancer. 30 years of research have been dedicated to looking into the process of blocking angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels) as a way to stop cancers growing," comments Professor David Cunningham, Head of the Gastrointestinal Unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital . "Avastin is the first in this class to show survival benefit. Many patients in the UK should now have the opportunity to benefit from this unique therapy."

Evidence of Avastin's effectiveness comes from a landmark study which showed patients treated with Avastin plus chemotherapy lived significantly longer than patients receiving chemotherapy alone, on average by nearly five months (20.3 months versus 15.6 months)(1). The addition of Avastin also increased the amount of time that patients were alive without their cancer growing, compared to patients receiving chemotherapy alone (10.6 months versus 6.2 months).

"With bowel cancer being the second biggest cancer killer in the UK , we strive to raise its profile and encourage people to talk about their symptoms. If caught early, bowel cancer is one of the most treatable cancers" says Jola Gore-Booth, Chief Executive of Colon Cancer Concern. "It is important that patients are aware of their treatment options. Avastin provides a new class of treatment, which could change the way bowel cancer may be treated in the future".

Scientists have been working to develop this completely new way of attacking the cancer for more than 30 years. Avastin is the first in its class of treatment that has increased patient survival and it has the potential to work in other kinds of cancer. It is currently being studied in kidney cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and advanced breast cancer.    Because of this exceptional science, Avastin has the potential to revolutionise the way that we treat cancer in the future.

Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the UK and the third among men(2). Around 34,500 patients were diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK in 2001 and this figure will rise to 36,500 in 2006(3).

Avastin stops the growth of new blood vessels to a tumour by blocking vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an essential protein that makes blood vessels grow. It is the first and only cancer treatment to target VEGF and show a survival benefit. Avastin is not chemotherapy, but is designed to complement its activity.

References:

1) Hurwitz H, Fehrenbacher L, Novotny W, et al. Bevacizumab plus Irinotecan, Fluorouracil, and Leucovorin for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, New England Journal of Medicine 2004; 350 (23): 2335-2342

2) Hayne D. Current trends in colorectal cancer: site, incidence, mortality and survival in England and Wales . Clinical Oncology 2001; 13 (6): 448-452

3) Decision Resources. Colorectal Cancer, 2002

(15/3/05)