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Avastin being used for Brain Tumor
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Sep 22, 2012 - 10:28 am
Does anyone have any experience with the drug Avastin being used for shrinking brain tumors? What about all the side effect? |
Joined: Jul 2009
My wife was treated with avastin. Main affect is fatigue (and accompanying grouchiness). But there can be huge medical side affects. Look up avastin online for hemmoraging and some other problems that could occur. It's a great drug when it works, however.
Joined: Jul 2012
My sister may begin Avastin for GBM, if she is strong enough. She has completed 6 weeks of radiation and Temodar. It does have terrible side effects, with bleeding being the most common. It is difficult to decide if the risks are worth the potential benefits.
Joined: Dec 2009
My 29 year old son did Avastin during his battle with his recurring anaplastic oligodendroglima. He had bleeding in his brain after about three treatments. They weren't sure if it was from the Avastin or from his tumor, but regardless, he couldn't stay on Avastin with the bleeding.
It was a tough situation for us. He had decided to do Avastin because the possible help it could give him outweighed the risks. Or so we thought. I think if we were doing it again, we would still decide to do Avastin. We always held to the concept of fighting as hard as we could, with whatever weapon we had at our disposal.
Love and blessings,
Cindy in Salem, OR
Joined: Mar 2012
My wife was on Avastin last summer and the side effects were horrible. Anal fissure and perforated colon. We should have been better informed of the possible side effects but at the time nothing else was having an effect on the tumor. She is doing better now on the Temodar. Talk to a qualified neuro oncologist about all the treatment options. Avastin may work for some but not all.
Joined: Aug 2009
My husband was treated with Avastin. He was diagnosed with GBMIV inoperable in 2009. After Temodar and radiation did not halt the progression of the tumor he was put on Avastin. We were told at the time it was a time-buyer not a cure. He had a dramatic reduction in the tumor in the first round. Unfortunately, he had a massive bleed and Avastin was stopped. It is a useful drug but not without its side effects. If we had to do it again, I think we would use the avastin. It did buy him some time with me and the kids.
Joined: Mar 2011
Hi, I heard Avastin is a miracle chemo (actually it is not a chemo , it blocks the oxygen to tumor cells thus starving the cells). Usaully doctors use it when all other options are gone. When my husband was given the first infusion of Avastin on January this year, the MRI showed tumor shrinkage and he felt better also.I was excited about Avastin hoping to buy few more years on it. Unfortunately he had a brain bleed in Feb and my dearest left me in July. In my husband's case, he already had some blood/fluid build up before given Avastin. But my husband went through a surgery to remove the buildups. Now, as I grieve, I wonder why the doctor gave him Avastin as he must have been at high risk for Avstin with the blood products in the brain. I know there is no point thinking like that and I beleive his oncologist gave him the Avastin as risktaking chance becasue he didn't have any other way to control the tumor growth.
Again, I heard a lots of good stories with Avstin, I am sharing my life tto help you think through in your own unique situation to make that calculated decision.
with care,
Raani
Joined: Mar 2012
Avastin may have saved my life. My only side affect is high blood pressure which is under control with meds (Analapril).
I was on 10mg/kg every other week for a year, and am now on it at a dose of 15mg/kg every 3 weeks for another 9 months or so.
I've been on it for over a year now, and in my 20th month after resection of a GBM....14 months longer than "they" told me I had!!!
I am not a doctor, just a humble patient that has had great success while being on Avastin.
Joined: Jul 2012
I did avastin for rad necrosis, not tumor, and had a very positive result. But, I can tell you, I struggled with the decision to do each and every treatment because the potential for negative outcome (bleeds, gi perforation, etc) that people are talking about is very real. For me it was a wonder drug, but it is not lost on me how easily it could have gone the other way. I had an episode of hypertensive urgency that definitely made me recognize how real the threat of stroke and heart attack were. I happen to also be a physician, though not an NO, and the rea