The anti-cancer treatment, Avastin, is now approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in combination with chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel) for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed (first-line) advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer.
Approximately 1,400 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, with up to 75 percent of cases diagnosed in the advanced stage. Each year, 800 Australian women will lose their battle with ovarian cancer.
Unlike other cancers, treatment options for ovarian cancer have remained relatively unchanged for the past 15 years with the standard of care limited to various chemotherapy options and surgery.
Professor Michael Quinn, Chair of the Gynaecological Cancer Inter-Group has welcomed the approval for Australian women: “Australian women living with advanced ovarian cancer whose treatment options have been restricted to chemotherapy and surgery can now potentially benefit from a targeted therapy, a form of treatment which has been available for other cancers for a number of years,” he said.
Avastin works by starving tumours of their blood supply, restricting the supply of nutrients that ovarian cancer tumours need to grow and spread throughout the body.
__small.png)
