Doctors at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City Philadelphia are very excited about a new option for brain cancer patients. The drug Avastin originally developed to treat colon cancer has found to be effective in improving the quality life of brain cancer patients. The drug works at blocking the protein that the tumor needs to grow. The Food and Drug Administration has recently approved the drug for use with brain cancer patients.
Over ten thousand people die each year due to brain tumors. Avastin has yet to be proven to lengthen the life of brain cancer patients but studies have shown that the drug can vastly improve their day to day lives. Avastin also has fewer and less severe side effects of the typical treatments for brain tumors, chemotherapy and radiation.
Doctors and researchers are very excited about the potential of Avastin and other drugs like it. "I don't think anybody thinks Avastin is going to be a home run, but in a field which didn't even have singles or doubles, Avastin is a triple," Dr. Adam Dicker of Jefferson University Hospital said.
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