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London: A drug
discovery can increase an ovarian cancer patients' life expectancy
by up to eight months -- the biggest breakthrough in 20 years of
its treatment.
British researchers found Avastin, which is used to treat breast
and bowel cancers, is also effective against ovarian cancer.
The disease has been called the silent killer because it often has
no symptoms in the early stages and in 80 percent of cases is not
detected until it has spread. Currently, the only treatment is
chemotherapy following surgery.
Annwen Jones, chief executive of the charity Target Ovarian
Cancer, said: "It is the first glimmer of hope that there are
significant advancements in treatments for ovarian cancer on the
horizon."
"There is a moral imperative to ensure Avastin is fast-tracked
through the necessary regulatory processes," the Daily Mail quoted
him as saying.
The research involved more than 1,500 women across Europe with
advanced ovarian cancer.
All had their tumours removed and received chemotherapy, but those
who were also given Avastin, which starves tumours of the blood
they need to grow and spread, lived on an average 7.8 months
longer than the control group.
Lead investigator Charlie Gourley, from the Edinburgh Cancer
Research Centre, said: "We would like to be able to make ovarian
cancer a chronic, rather than fatal, disease."
Roche, which manufactures the drug, has applied to the European
Medicines Agency for a licence to use it to treat ovarian cancer,
which means it could be available before the end of the year.
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