http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Adding an angiogenesis inhibitor to treatment with a HER2-inhibiting drug could improve outcomes for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who develop brain metastases. In their report published online in PNAS Plus, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators report the first preclinical study combining antiangiogenic and anti-HER2 drugs in an animal model of brain metastatic breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-combination-treatment-survival-breast-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:56:02 EST news271007751 Comparing levels of specific proteins that the drug Avastin targets could identify patients with advanced bowel cancer who will benefit from the treatment, according to research published in Clinical Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-protein-bowel-cancer-patients-benefit.html Cancer Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:00:01 EST news270222109 New results from phase III trials exploring treatment options for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma were released at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-phase-iii-treatment-renal-cell.html Cancer Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:32:58 EST news268281169 Treatment with pemetrexed, carboplatin and bevacizumab followed by maintenance pemetrexed and bevacizumab (Pem+Cb+B) is no better than standard therapy with paclitaxel, carboplatin and bevacizumab followed by bevacizumab (Pac+Cb+B) in patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NS-NSCLC), according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and The University of Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-standard-chemotherapy-higher-survival-experimental.html Cancer Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:04:23 EST news266162654 (HealthDay) -- Treating patients with surgically unresectable metastatic colon cancer and an asymptomatic intact primary tumor with bevacizumab and infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX6) chemotherapy is a viable and safe option, according to research published online Aug. 6 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-nonoperative-approach-feasible-advanced-colon.html Cancer Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:42:53 EST news263731366 (HealthDay) -- The combination of temozolomide and bevacizumab seems to benefit patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), according to a study published online July 9 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-chemo-combo-pancreatic-neuroendocrine-tumors.html Cancer Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:17:19 EST news261418630 Nottingham researchers are leading a study to test the effectiveness of a controversial drug in the treatment of a common loss of vision. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-success-vision-loss-drug-slash.html Ophthalmology Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:52:27 EST news261222735 The cancer drug bevacizumab (Avastin) offers only a modest benefit in delaying disease progression in patients with advanced stage breast cancer, according to a systematic review by Cochrane researchers. The researchers assessed the efficacy of bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy, an established cancer treatment in this indication, and found no overall survival benefit when adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-metastatic-breast-cancer-bevacizumab-impact.html Cancer Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:00:05 EST news261160877 Nearly a third of adults with the most common type of brain cancer develop recurrent, invasive tumors after being treated with a drug called bevacizumab. The molecular underpinnings behind these detrimental effects have now been published in the July issue of Cancer Cell. The findings reveal a new treatment strategy that could reduce tumor invasiveness and improve survival in these drug-resistant patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-treatment-brain-cancer-revealed-molecular.html Cancer Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:00:09 EST news261052788 The addition of high doses of erlotinib to the treatment regimen of bevacizumab and capecitabine with radiotherapy seems to benefit patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, according to results of a phase I study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, held here June 18-21. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-adding-erlotinib-bevacizumabchemoradiotherapy-regimen-pancreatic.html Cancer Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:30:17 EST news259332674 (HealthDay) -- Continuing use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with second-line chemotherapy improves overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who have progressed after discontinuation of first-line bevacizumab and chemotherapy, according to the results of a phase III study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from June 1 to 5 in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-asco-avastin-2nd-line-chemo-ups.html Cancer Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:30:01 EST news258120168 A drug cocktail that combines chemotherapy with Avastin was shown to double the amount of time patients lived without progression of ovarian cancer, according to research released Saturday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-drug-cocktail-boosts-ovarian-cancer.html Cancer Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:23:52 EST news257862174 Liver metastases predicts shorter overall survival in men with metastatic castration-refractory prostate cancer (mCRPC), according to data being presented at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-liver-metastases-prognostic-significance-men.html Cancer Thu, 31 May 2012 11:06:49 EST news257681201 VIB researcher Diether Lambrechts, associated with KU Leuven, has discovered a biomarker that might potentially predict which patients will benefit more from treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin). If validated, this discovery could be an important step towards personalized medicine and patient-tailored use of this important cancer drug. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-biomarker-response-cancer-treatment.html Cancer Mon, 21 May 2012 10:13:41 EST news256813986 At two years, Avastin (bevacizumab) and Lucentis (ranibizumab injection), two widely used drugs to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), improve vision when administered monthly or on an as needed basis, although greater improvements in vision were seen with monthly administration for this common, debilitating eye disease, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-avastin-lucentis-equivalent-age-related-macular.html Ophthalmology Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:40:01 EST news255013861 (HealthDay) -- Medicare patients who have advanced non-small cell lung cancer appear to get no survival benefit from adding the drug Avastin to standard chemotherapy, researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-avastin-benefit-older-lung-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:47:39 EST news253892752 Analysis of a drug regimen approved by the F.D.A. in 2006 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (bevacizumab added to the standard chemotherapy regimen carboplatin and paclitaxel) finds Medicare insured patients age 65 years and older who received this regimen did not have improved survival compared to patients who received the standard treatment of carboplatin and paclitaxel alone, according to a study in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-drug-regimen-treatment-non-small-cell.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:51:03 EST news253878657 A randomized controlled trial involving patients with persistent clinically significant diabetic macular edema (swelling of the retina) suggests the greater efficacy of bevacizumab compared with macular laser therapy that was previously demonstrated at 12 months was maintained through 24 months, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-two-year-outcomes-diabetic-macular-edema.html Ophthalmology Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:02 EST news253189745 A combination of nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer may be a promising option for patients ineligible for treatment with bevacizumab, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-drug-combination-option-patients-nsclc.html Cancer Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:42:16 EST news252664926 Combining the experimental drug Avastin (bevacizumab) with the diabetes drug Metformin almost doubles its ability to reduce skin cancer growth, according to a study in Cancer Discovery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-diabetes-treatment-skin-cancer-drug.html Cancer Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:12:13 EST news252569526 (HealthDay) -- For men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), the addition of bevacizumab (B) to docetaxel plus prednisone (DP) is not associated with improved overall survival (OS), but does improve progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response (OR), according to a study published online March 26 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-bevacizumab-doesnt-survival-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 27 Mar 2012 04:50:01 EST news252041346 (HealthDay) -- For patients with HIV-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (HIV-KS), bevacizumab is tolerated and induces a response in some patients, according to a study published online March 19 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-bevacizumab-hiv-linked-kaposi-sarcoma.html Cancer Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:19:27 EST news251457546 In a small study that included 25 patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (a genetic disorder that leads to abnormalities of blood vessels) and severe liver involvement with this disease, patients who received the drug bevacizumab had improved cardiac output and a reduction in the duration and number of episodes of nose bleeds, a potentially life-threatening complication for patients with this disorder, according to a study in the March 7 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-bevacizumab-patients-hereditary-blood-vessel.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:01 EST news250269569 Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center's VCU Massey Cancer Center and Harold F. Young Neurosurgical Center (Richmond, VA) and Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) have discovered that suppression of Wilms tumor 1 protein (WT1) results in downregulation of CD97 gene expression in three glioblastoma cell lines and reduces the characteristic invasiveness exhibited by glial tumor cells. This finding is announced in the article, "Novel report of expression and function of CD97 in malignant gliomas: correlation with Wilms tumor 1 expression and glioma cell invasiveness," by Archana Chidambaram, Ph.D., and colleagues, published online ahead of print today in the Journal of Neurosurgery. Although further studies must be performed, the authors propose that CD97 may prove to be a new target for anti-glioma therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-cd97-gene-function-wt1-protein.html Neuroscience Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:30:01 EST news247832331 Cancer treatments designed to block the growth of blood vessels were found to increase the number of cancer stem cells in breast tumors in mice, suggesting a possible explanation for why these drugs don't lead to longer survival, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-avastin-sutent-breast-cancer-stem.html Cancer Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:31:17 EST news246706261 Targeted drugs, which block or disrupt particular molecules involved in the growth of tumors, have been shown to be effective treatments against many types of cancer. A new phase 3 clinical trial conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) showed that a targeted therapy called bevacizumab (Avastin) effectively delayed the progression of advanced ovarian cancer. Patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer now typically undergo surgery and chemotherapy, but the new research suggests an additional avenue of treatment. The results of the trial appear in the December 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-therapy-progression-free-survival-patients-advanced.html Cancer Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:00:01 EST news244292529 The trial conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) shows the feasibility to deliver bevacizumab to the current chemoradiation standard without any apparent increased adverse side effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-nasopharyngeal-carcinoma-bevacizumab-phase-trial.html Cancer Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:59:01 EST news243266295 Data evaluated by an independent review committee revealed that the addition of bevacizumab to trastuzumab and docetaxel significantly improved progression-free survival in HER2-positive breast cancer, despite findings from an investigator assessment that the improvement was present but statistically non-significant. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-addition-bevacizumab-conventional-therapy-progression-free.html Cancer Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:20:01 EST news242538899 Targeted therapies that are designed to suppress the formation of new blood vessels in tumors, such as Avastin (bevacizumab), have slowed cancer growth in some patients. However, they have not produced the dramatic responses researchers initially thought they might. Now, research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania might help to explain the modest responses. The discovery, published in the July 14 issue of Nature, suggests novel treatment combinations that could boost the power of therapies based on slowing blood vessel growth (angiogenesis). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-scientists-link-immune-suppression-blood.html Cancer Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:00:09 EST news229780313 Dose-dense chemotherapy has shown promise in smaller clinical trials, and now is being investigated in a multi-center, phase III study in which nearly 700 women will participate. Earlier phase II trials pointed to anti-cancer effects for the treatment approach, even when ovarian cancers had become resistant to standard treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-ovarian-cancer-outcomes-dose-dense-chemotherapy.html Cancer Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:23:51 EST news228644565