If you start really investigating your choices to aggressively treat ovarian cancer, you are likely to come across Bevacizumab, which has the brand name Avastin. It is somewhat commonly used as part of a maintenance regimen to keep ovarian cancer in remission, as well as during initial treatment and full blown recurrence.
How Avastin Works
“When you talk about genetic profiling, ovarian cancer is a disease characterized by what we call genomic instability,” says Dr. Beth Karlan, gynecologic oncologist at the UCLA Medical Center. “Lots of targets, DNA all gone awry.”
There are not many effective targeted treatments for ovarian cancer but there are a number that do really work in terms of meaningfully extending life, Karlan explains. One of those treatments is Bevacizumab. It’s a type of monoclonal that helps prevent the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to malignant cells.
Bevacizumab blocks a certain protein called a “vascular endothelial growth factor” which help tumors grow. So rather than killing cancer cells themselves, as chemotherapy does, bevacizumab chokes the cells at their roots, attacking the blood cells that feed the tumors. Karlan explains that ovarian cancer cells are like weeds growing in a garden and Avastin is like a pesticide.
Bevacizumab can be used in combination with chemotherapy for women who have recurring ovarian cancer. Dr. Karlan says that it can be a very effective treatment option when the cancer returns. Bevacizumab can also be used for maintenance, to help prevent a cancer from returning after it has been treated. The drug has been through multiple clinical trials and is FDA approved.
Avastin Side Effects
One of the major side effects of Avastin is high blood pressure, which needs to be monitored very carefully with the administration of the drug. Karlan says that many women who are treated with Avastin need to start taking hypertension blood pressure medicine.
There are risks when any medicine raises a woman’s blood pressure, according to Dr. Karlan. These risks include stroke and bleeding. Dr. Karlan says that if a patient is on Avastin, it is important to take notice of headaches and blurred vision. Sometimes, she says, Avastin can be so effective that it helps shrink the tumors at such an incredible rate and women sometimes wind up with a hole in their bowel—a fistula or bowel perforation that can require surgery to rectify.
There are other common side effects that can come with Avastin, including inflammation, dried skin, back pain, nosebleeds, rectal bleeding, watery eyes, and taste change. These side effects are also common with other cancer drugs, along with the caution that pregnant or potentially pregnant women should avoid Avastin, as should women undergoing surgery.
Because of the potential side effects and the way certain drugs work, it’s important to think carefully about choosing one’s course of treatment.
“When you decide what is next treatment it’s not just a list you go down and check off,” explains Dr. Karlan. “It has to be individualized to the status of the tumor and your baseline health and what you’re at risk for, to select the best treatment for you.”
Avastin can also be used to treat other kinds of cancer including recurrent glioblastoma, metastatic colorectal cancer, advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, cervical cancer and ovarian cancer.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Dr. Beth Karlan is a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California. Read More
If you start really investigating your choices to aggressively treat ovarian cancer, you are likely to come across Bevacizumab, which has the brand name Avastin. It is somewhat commonly used as part of a maintenance regimen to keep ovarian cancer in remission, as well as during initial treatment and full blown recurrence.
How Avastin Works
Read More “When you talk about genetic profiling, ovarian cancer is a disease characterized by what we call genomic instability,” says
Dr. Beth Karlan, gynecologic oncologist at the UCLA Medical Center. “Lots of targets, DNA all gone awry.”
There are not many effective targeted treatments for ovarian cancer but there are a number that do really work in terms of meaningfully extending life, Karlan explains. One of those treatments is Bevacizumab. It’s a type of monoclonal that helps prevent the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to malignant cells.
Bevacizumab blocks a certain protein called a “vascular endothelial growth factor” which help tumors grow. So rather than killing cancer cells themselves, as chemotherapy does, bevacizumab chokes the cells at their roots, attacking the blood cells that feed the tumors. Karlan explains that ovarian cancer cells are like weeds growing in a garden and Avastin is like a pesticide.
Bevacizumab can be used in combination with chemotherapy for women who have recurring ovarian cancer. Dr. Karlan says that it can be a very effective treatment option when the cancer returns. Bevacizumab can also be used for maintenance, to help prevent a cancer from returning after it has been treated. The drug has been through multiple clinical trials and is FDA approved.
Avastin Side Effects
One of the major side effects of Avastin is high blood pressure, which needs to be monitored very carefully with the administration of the drug. Karlan says that many women who are treated with Avastin need to start taking hypertension blood pressure medicine.
There are risks when any medicine raises a woman’s blood pressure, according to Dr. Karlan. These risks include stroke and bleeding. Dr. Karlan says that if a patient is on Avastin, it is important to take notice of headaches and blurred vision. Sometimes, she says, Avastin can be so effective that it helps shrink the tumors at such an incredible rate and women sometimes wind up with a hole in their bowel—a fistula or bowel perforation that can require surgery to rectify.
There are other common side effects that can come with Avastin, including inflammation, dried skin, back pain, nosebleeds, rectal bleeding, watery eyes, and taste change. These side effects are also common with other cancer drugs, along with the caution that pregnant or potentially pregnant women should avoid Avastin, as should women undergoing surgery.
Because of the potential side effects and the way certain drugs work, it’s important to think carefully about choosing one’s course of treatment.
“When you decide what is next treatment it’s not just a list you go down and check off,” explains Dr. Karlan. “It has to be individualized to the status of the tumor and your baseline health and what you’re at risk for, to select the best treatment for you.”
Avastin can also be used to treat other kinds of cancer including recurrent glioblastoma, metastatic colorectal cancer, advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, cervical cancer and ovarian cancer.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Dr. Beth Karlan is a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California. Read More
