Roche’s blockbuster cancer drug Avastin has now additionally been shown to slow the progression of ovarian cancer but does not extend life necessarily according to information presented at this week’s American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. A course of treatment with Avastin is priced at about $58,000. The drug, also known as bevacizumab, had sales of $7.8 billion USD last year. Analysts have projected 2015 sales of just over $7 billion.
The trial of 1,528 women newly pegged with the cancer found that 28 months after treatment, there were fewer deaths in the Avastin group than in the standard therapy group, but the difference was not tremendous making the announcement a bit inconclusive. However, patients with recurrent disease had a 52% reduction in the risk of cancer progression when treated with Avastin and chemotherapy, compared to treatment with chemotherapy alone.
Researchers said that for women with more advanced cancers, and thus at highest risk of recurrence, Avastin produced a more robust 36 percent reduction in the risk of death.
Philippe Bishop, head of Avastin clinical development at Roche’s Genentech unit commented at the meeting:
“Progression-free survival is a surrogate for other measures, such as living longer or quality of life. The consequence of not being able to control the disease is ultimately to face a death sentence.”
According to the American Cancer Society, in 2010 an estimated 21,880 U.S. women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, most with advanced disease, and around 13,850 died from the cancer.
Dr. Robert Burger, director of Fox Chase’s Women’s Cancer Center and a previous Avastin investigator adds:
“As long as there is at least a trend for an overall survival advantage … I think that that should lead to approval in front-line and second-line therapy.”
Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that recognizes and blocks vascular endothelial growth factor A. VEGF-A is a chemical signal that stimulates the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), especially in cancer, retinal proliferation of diabetes in the eye, and other diseases. Bevacizumab was the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor in the United States.
Avastin received its first approval in 2004 for combination use with standard chemotherapy for metastatic colon cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. In 2008, it was approved by the FDA for use in metastatic breast cancer, a decision that generated some controversy as it went against the recommendation of its advisory panel, who objected because it only slowed tumor growth but failed to extend survival. In the US, Members of a Food and Drug Administration panel said in July 2010 that they do not see enough of a benefit from Avastin in advanced breast cancer to justify its serious risks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled more hearings on the issue later this month.
Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague. Women and their doctors often blame the symptoms on other, more common conditions. By the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor has often spread beyond the ovaries.
Sources: Roche and
Written by Sy Kraft