Novel Angiogenesis Inhibitor To Be Tested Against Advanced Breast And Colorectal Cancers.(Avastin)

2001 JUN 21 -- (NewsRx Network) -- On May 30, 2001, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Cancer Center launched several studies of treatments for advanced breast and colorectal cancers that attempt to starve tumors by cutting off the blood supply they need to grow and flourish.

The large studies are open at UCLA's Westwood campus and at more than 60 affiliated cancer network oncology offices throughout California and in Nevada and Montana.

Hundreds of patients are being sought to take part in three clinical trials to study the experimental anti-VEGF antibody (Avastin) in combination with chemotherapy on advanced breast and colorectal cancers. A product of South San Francisco, California-based Genentech, the angiogenesis inhibitor is an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) antibody, meaning it targets a protein that promotes new blood vessel formation, called angiogenesis.

A tumor cannot grow bigger than a pinhead unless it establishes an independent blood supply to provide the oxygen and nutrients it must have to grow. Researchers hope that by stopping or cutting off the formation of a new blood supply, they can starve and, hopefully, kill the cancer. In these UCLA studies, the experimental antibody is teamed up with different chemotherapy drugs. Researchers hope that the antibody will help the chemotherapy work more effectively, and vice versa, providing a synergistic effect.

Dr. Fairooz Kabbinavar, a UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center scientist and physician who has studied the anti-VEGF antibody in the lab and in patients for the last nine years, heads up the three new clinical trials. Based on what he's observed in the lab and seen in early patient studies, Kabbinavar is optimistic about the effectiveness of the anti-VEGF antibody.

"This antibody seems to be the most active agent available to inhibit angiogenesis, based on some of the laboratory and early clinical data," Kabbinavar said. "The antibody targets the dominant angiogenesis protein. In the lab, we saw a definite synergistic effect when the antibody is combined with chemotherapy. Results from early phase studies also appear to bear that out."

In addition to the Jonsson Cancer Center on UCLA's Westwood campus, the antibody is available to patients in California community-based UCLA research network oncology offices in Bakersfield, Fresno, Fullerton, Inglewood, La Jolla, Lancaster, Long Beach, Monterey, Monterey Park, Northridge, Oxnard, Pasadena, Pomona, Rancho Mirage, Redondo Beach, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Maria, Santa Monica, Thousand Oaks, Valencia, and Vista. In Nevada and Montana, the studies are open in offices in Las Vegas and Great Falls, respectively.