The Food and Drug Administration has just granted Avastin priority review status in the treatment of cervical cancer. This reduces mortality by 29% in combination with chemotherapy.
Avastin is an anticancer drug already used in colon, lung, breast and kidney cancers. But this time around, it could be indicated in cervical cancer. Indeed, the Food and Drug Administration, the American drug agency, has just granted it priority review status. Treatment, in addition to chemotherapy, concerns women with advanced cervical cancer, that is to say metastatic, persistent, or in a situation of recurrence after standard treatment. “This treatment could help women suffering from this disease to live longer than with chemotherapy alone,” said Sandra Horning, medical director of Roche Laboratories, manufacturer of Avastin.
The risk of death decreased by 29%
Thus, a phase III study carried out on more than 450 patients, showed that the median overall survival was 17 months in the women who received the combination Avastin plus chemotherapy, against 13 months in the women treated only by chemotherapy. And the risk of death was reduced by 29% with this combination therapy. This anticancer drug works by blocking the development of blood vessels necessary for tumor growth.
Cancer of the cervix is the third most common cancer in women. It is mainly linked to infection with the papillomavirus, which is transmitted sexually. In France, 3,000 new cases occur each year, including a thousand deaths. According to the High Authority for Health, these deaths would be preventable if screening was organized for all women between 25 and 65 years old.
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