Thursday, January 12, 2012 | Diverse Perspectives on Science and Medicine
Avastin for Ovarian Cancer
By Jessica Wapner
Posted: January 11, 2012
"You’ve probably already seen the headlines noting the disappointing outcomes of two phase III studies of bevacizumab (brand name Avastin, made by Genentech) for ovarian cancer. I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the data this morning—I am pretty certain that practicing interpreting study reports can add years to my brain functioning—and figured I’d post a quick summary here.
There were two phase III studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 29. (And don’t you want to know how that came about? Were the studies planned from the get-go to end at around the same time? Or were the analyses specifically timed to be reported simultaneously? And were there women with ovarian cancer being treated with Avastin off-label in the meantime, while these studies, funded in part by public dollars, were being prepared for publication?) One study looked at a couple of different ways of incorporating the drug into primary treatment. The other study was a direct comparison of two regimens...."
Posted: January 11, 2012
"You’ve probably already seen the headlines noting the disappointing outcomes of two phase III studies of bevacizumab (brand name Avastin, made by Genentech) for ovarian cancer. I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the data this morning—I am pretty certain that practicing interpreting study reports can add years to my brain functioning—and figured I’d post a quick summary here.
There were two phase III studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 29. (And don’t you want to know how that came about? Were the studies planned from the get-go to end at around the same time? Or were the analyses specifically timed to be reported simultaneously? And were there women with ovarian cancer being treated with Avastin off-label in the meantime, while these studies, funded in part by public dollars, were being prepared for publication?) One study looked at a couple of different ways of incorporating the drug into primary treatment. The other study was a direct comparison of two regimens...."
