Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Taxanes plus Avastin Successful Against Triple-Negative

In research on mice with cancer cells nab-paclitaxel plus bevacizumab (Avastin) reduced tumor size by 100 percent, according to research presented at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The release, from Medpage Today:

WASHINGTON -- Researchers here say a combination of a taxane and the targeted biological agent bevacizumab might be effective against hard-to-treat triple negative breast cancer.

While many drugs target tumors that overexpress certain proteins, there are limited therapies for women who develop breast cancer that do not overexpress estrogen, progesterone, or HER2 genetics, according to Sophia Ran, PhD, professor of medical microbiology, immunology, and cell biology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield.

Ran and colleagues told attendees at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that they tested the use of paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension -- nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) -- by itself or in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin).

She said that nab-paclitaxel could reduce tumor size, but the addition of bevacizumab had additive and synergistic impacts on the tumors in animal models of triple-negative breast cancer. MORE.

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