Avastin being used for Brain Tumor

firwood98
firwood98 Member Posts: 1
in Brain Cancer #1
Does anyone have any experience with the drug Avastin being used for shrinking brain tumors? What about all the side effect?

Comments

  • Tubbs
    Tubbs Member Posts: 51
    #2
    My wife was treated with
    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.
  • amsan1724
    amsan1724 Member Posts: 7
    #3
    Avastin
    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.
  • cindysuetoyou
    cindysuetoyou Member Posts: 513
    #4
    Avastin
    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
  • Tallcaregiver
    Tallcaregiver Member Posts: 2
    #5
    Avastin
    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.
  • Beckymarie
    Beckymarie Member Posts: 357
    #6
    Avastin
    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.
  • Raani01
    Raani01 Member Posts: 70
    #7
    Beckymarie said:

    Avastin
    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.

    Avastin is good and bad
    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
  • Scottgri
    Scottgri Member Posts: 44
    #8
    High BP
    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.
  • princesspurple
    princesspurple Member Posts: 6
    #9
    I did avastin for rad
    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 reality of these things is something I'm intimately familiar with. Aside from this high blood pressure episode, the fatigue and things are troublesome, but certainly not insurmountable. If I had it to do all over again, I would definitely have done it. Best of luck to you.
  • salem1966
    salem1966 Member Posts: 9
    #10
    Avastin

    My son is on Avastin by IV every 3 weeks.  It keeps cancer cells from getting a fresh supply of blood.  He's been on it for almost two yrs & has not had any cancer cells show on his MRIs.  Avastin did cause his mini stroke, & makes him fatigued.  I do believe his tumor would have come back without the Avastin, but each person has to decide according to their own side effects.

  • Eng
    Eng Member Posts: 11
    #11
    Avastin

    My brother was diagnosed with anaplasty 2011 had fully remove the tumor now his Dr. Believes this would help him now we are worry for the sideeffects although he went under radiations but it was too fast to one back

    If anybody has experience with Avastin please let me know

    God bless

  • TedHoyt
    TedHoyt Member Posts: 1
    #12
    Eng said:

    Avastin

    My brother was diagnosed with anaplasty 2011 had fully remove the tumor now his Dr. Believes this would help him now we are worry for the sideeffects although he went under radiations but it was too fast to one back

    If anybody has experience with Avastin please let me know

    God bless

    Avastin

    I go for my 49th Avastin infusion this afternoon.  Standard dosage once every 14 days.   Minimal side effects compared to temodar TMZ.  Most of the listed side effects are due to colon cancer patients.  Without Avastin and Genentech I would of died in 2011,  Like we all know, every GBM is different and what has worked wonders for me might be a mistake for you.  Hold fast.

  • mccindy
    mccindy Member Posts: 81
    #13
    TedHoyt said:

    Avastin

    I go for my 49th Avastin infusion this afternoon.  Standard dosage once every 14 days.   Minimal side effects compared to temodar TMZ.  Most of the listed side effects are due to colon cancer patients.  Without Avastin and Genentech I would of died in 2011,  Like we all know, every GBM is different and what has worked wonders for me might be a mistake for you.  Hold fast.

    hooray!

    I'm so glad to hear that you are still doing well with the Avastin!  It has definitely extended the lives of many GBM patients. I hope it continues to work for you and you are able to hang on until a cure is found.  There are some promising viral studies in Europe right now that might be starting human trials either this or next year.

  • smaragdin
    smaragdin Member Posts: 2
    #14
    GBM IV

    Hi everyone!

    My father was diagnosed on 07.11.13 with brain tumor. He got his surgery on 19.11.13 and the results showed gbm grade 4. 3 weeks after the surgery he was feeling really good so we went to Anadolu in affiliation with Johns Hopkins medicine hospital in Turkey. He started the standard way of treatment with 42 days chemo - TemodaL (temozolomide) and 30 days radiotherapy. I'm not sure if I’m right or wrong but every day after the surgery he looks much much better and even during the chemo and radio therapies he feels like he is not ill with GBM. He's laughing, eating A LOT, of course sometimes he forgets words but that’s absolutely normal i suppose. The doctors say that he looks way better than the other patients...I don’t know if they are just saying it to make us relaxed… but as we can see and what he says he really does look great. I met lots of people with the same diagnosis and they were on wheelchairs, not talking, not eating, they were only sleeping.... I read probably all websites with information about GBM and i found out this vaccine they are developing since 2004. They just completed PHASE 2 in December 2013 and they just started phase 3 which will be finished in the end of 2014 by plan. For some patients It showed very good results so i hope we can use this vaccine in case of gbm coming back OR may be AVASTIN? As I see there are a lot of side effects when using avastin but...there is people saying that exactly avastin save their lives... I hope they'll find the right cure for that type of cancer soooooooon......

    Wish you guys to win this battle...

    KS

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