I learned something new today........

msccolon said:

outstanding!
Totally awesome off-label use for Avastin! I wonder what it was developed for use for first?
mary

Here ya go Mary............
Status The FDA approved Avastin in February 2004 for use in combination with intravenous 5-FU-based chemotherapy as a treatment for first-line metastatic colorectal cancer. In June 2006, the FDA approved Avastin in combination with intravenous 5-FU-based chemotherapy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have been previously treated for their cancer (or second-line metastatic colorectal cancer). In October 2006, the FDA approved Avastin in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC.

The original Avastin FDA approval was based on data from a large, placebo controlled, randomized study demonstrating prolongation in the median survival of patients treated with Avastin plus the IFL (5-FU/Leucovorin/CPT-11) chemotherapy regimen by approximately five months, compared to patients treated with the IFL chemotherapy regimen alone (20.3 months versus 15.6 months). This is one of the largest improvements in survival ever reported in a randomized, Phase III study of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

The second approval was based on results of a randomized, controlled, multicenter Phase III trial (E3200) of 829 patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer who had received previous treatment with irinotecan and 5-FU as initial therapy for metastatic disease or as adjuvant therapy. The study showed that patients who received Avastin plus the 5-FU-based chemotherapy regimen known as FOLFOX4 (oxaliplatin/5-FU/leucovorin) had a 25 percent reduction in the risk of death (based on a hazard ratio of 0.75), the primary endpoint, which is equivalent to a 33 percent improvement in overall survival, compared to patients who received FOLFOX4 alone. Median survival for patients receiving Avastin plus FOLFOX4 was 13.0 months, compared to 10.8 months for those receiving FOLFOX4 alone.

The third approval was based on results from E4599, a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial that enrolled 878 patients with unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC. The most common Grade 3-5 (severe) adverse events in Study E4599 seen in Avastin-treated patients, were neutropenia (low white blood cell count), fatigue, hypertension (high blood pressure), infection and hemorrhage. Results showed that patients receiving Avastin plus paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapies had a 25 percent improvement in overall survival, the trial's primary endpoint, compared to patients who received chemotherapy alone (based on a hazard ratio of 0.80). One-year survival was 51 percent in the Avastin arm versus 44 percent in the chemotherapy-alone arm. Median survival of patients treated with Avastin plus chemotherapy was 12.3 months, compared to 10.3 months for patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

The FDA granted accelerated approval for Avastin in combination with paclitaxel chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of advanced HER2-negative breast cancer in February 2008.

kmygil said:

Wow! Like Ambien!
That's just an amazing story, Buzzard! I hope your mother gets relief and recovers some sight. Who knew?

It's like Ambien, used to go to sleep & stay asleep. But it sometimes wakes up people in a persistent vegetative state! I don't think they really know what Ambien does to your brain.

My sister takes it and sleepwalks, sleep-eats and evidently has knife fights and other brawls, because she awakens in the morning with bowls of food all around her bed and the contents of her refrigerator strewn all over the kitchen. She has no recollection of any of her actions in the morning. On one occasion she woke up with blood soaking her sheets and large puncture wounds all over her legs. On another occasion she awakened with heavy bruises all over her left side. Evidently she took a quick trip down the stairs on the second occasion, but we still wonder what happened with the puncture wounds. I have had a long conversation with her that she also has absolutely no recollection of.

I have FINALLY convinced her that it is just too dangerous. What if she decides to grab her car keys and take a spin while fast asleep? What if she decides to take a walk outside in her jammies and freezes to death?

I don't think enough research has been done on the mechanics of this drug. What is it doing if it can give regular folks a heavy sleep (even without the sleep-walking etc.) and at the same time wake up patients who have been essentially comatose for years? I'm afraid of that drug.

However, it is really good news that Avastin has more than one use! Way to make a multi-level drug! Thanks for sharing that!

Hugs,
Kirsten

Keep updated
Today my mom is actually seeing better already. I will keep everyone updated on this for someones future reference. It was injected just under the eye covering and then massaged around the entire eye with a q-tip. Medicine is an amazing field and I suspect with the dramatic increase in colon cancer that there will be a cure in less than a year.....We will all have played a major role in that also....something to think about when we are feeling low......That someday because of our trials and tribulations and downfalls and victories that some body or some child will not have to take this journey....
Think of the children that will remain seeing because of this new find. Thats what its all about, spare some and save the masses.......Gods way of mankind doing His work for Him in sharing all things possible......