Roche sees Avastin meet primary endpoint

Roche has announced that a second phase III study investigating the use of Avastin in combination with docetaxel chemotherapy in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer has met its primary endpoint.

The study found that the Avastin and docetaxel chemotherapy combination, when compared to docetaxel alone, showed statistically significant improvement in the time patients live without the disease advancing.

Dr David Miles, medical oncologist at Mount Vernon Hospital, outlined that over a million women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year which brings over 400,000 deaths globally.

“This study confirms Avastin’s effect of prolonging the time in which patients live without their disease getting worse in combination with a widely used chemotherapy partner ? this time gained is very precious,” he stressed.

The findings are part of a larger phase III study, Avastin and Docetaxel (AVADO), which is investigating the addition of docetaxel to Avastin 7.5 and 15 mg/kg, administered every three weeks.

Efficacy and safety data of the AVADO study is to be presented at a forthcoming medical meeting, the pharmaceutical firm has confirmed.

Last month, Roche announced that Avastin had received a broad label extension from the European commission for its wider use in metastatic colorectal cancer.