Avastin is a drug used in chemotherapy that has only recently been approved by the FDA. In fact it is the first anti-angiogenesis therapy approved by the Food and Drug Association for the treating advanced stages of colorectal cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and kidney cancer. These cancers together account for about 3 million deaths every year. With more than 500,000 patients having been treated with it, Avastin has been reported to be quite effective against these types of tumors and clinical trials are working around the country to improve its effect and minimize side-effects.

It is quite predictable that Avastin can have numerous and severe side-effects, though these are outweighed by its ability to control tumor growth and metastases. It works as an antibody that blocks the vascular endothelial growth factor, which is known to stimulate development of blood vessels that feed the tumor, a process also called angiogenesis.

In the case of non-small cell lung cancer, Avastin can be combined with carboplatin and paclitaxel and become a first-line treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer, which is unresectable, recurrent or metastatic.



Let's now return to Avastin's side-effects since it can rarely even result in the development of a severe side-effect called gastrointestinal perforation. This consists in the development of a hole in the stomach and can be fatal. Symptoms that can warn you about it include fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and constipation.

Avastin treatment can also cause slow and incomplete healing of your surgical wounds and this can lead to infections. The recommendation is not to take Avastin in the first month after surgery. Fatal bleeding can also result from poor administration of Avastin. Coughing up blood, bleeding in the stomach and nosebleeds can occur so if you already have such symptoms don't take Avastin.



However, side effects most commonly occur in more than 10% of the patients and include nosebleeds, headache, high blood pressure, inflammation of the nose, taste change, dry skin, rectal bleeding and back pain.

Since bleeding and even fatal hemoptysis are risks that comes with taking Avastin, patients with large tumors, squamous cell lung cancer and hemoptysis are not indicated to be treated with Avastin. It is also not recommended for patients with CNS metastases due to the risk od hemorrhage. This contraindications add up to as much as 45% of lung cancer patients who are not eligible for Avastin treatments.

However, there is now a better alternative to Avastin and it is called Erbitux. This drug is said to have the same impact as Avastin on the tumor but without all the disastrous side-effects Avastin has on our body. Ask your doctor for more information about these drugs and always ask for second opinions as not all doctors are up to date with all recent advances in chemo drugs.