Feb 22, 2006

Avastin To Be Tested In Pancreatic Cancer

Researchers are trying to see if a new drug called Avastin would benefit patients pancreatic cancer. FDA currently approves Avastin for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Now a new clinical trial is under way to determine if Avastin in combination with chemotherapy would increase survival in people with pancreatic cancer.

Avastin (bevacizumab) belongs to the newly developed group of targeted drugs. Avastin is anti-angiogenic drug that acts to block the growth of blood vessels in tumors. Dr. Mark Talamonti, who is the chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, heads this new clinical trial. The researchers are planning to use a combination of abdominal radiation therapy, chemotherapy together with Avastin to reduce localized pancreatic tumors that have not metastasized or spread to other organs in the body.

Northwestern Memorial is the sole clinical site where the research trial is being conducted. The phase II clinical trial builds on an earlier study reported in the February 2006 issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

"Our findings from the previous study suggest that the combination of chemotherapy and radiation is a safe and effective treatment method to reduce the local extent of pancreatic tumors," Talamonti said in a prepared statement.


Janet      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Cancer
Cancer is a very common disease, approximately one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have some type of cancer at some point during the course of their life. Cancer is more common in the elderly and 77 percent of cancers occur in people above age 55 or older. Cancer is also common in children. Cancer incidence is said to have two peaks once during early childhood and then during late years in life. No age period is completely exempted from development of cancers. Some cancers occur predominantly in the elderly, other types occur in children, Cancer occurs in all ethnic races, however the cancer rates and rates of specific cancer types may vary from group to group. Late stages of cancer may be incurable in most cases, but with the advancement of medicine, more and more cancers are becoming curable.