ΕΜΠΑΣΕ Η ΒΑΡΚΑ ΡΩΜΙΕ

Avastin fails to prevent colon cancer recurrence, clinical trial indicates.
The New York Times (4/22, Pollack) reports, "The drug Avastin [bevacizumab] failed to prevent colon cancer from recurring by a significant amount in a clinical trial," Roche's Genentech Inc. unit "said early Wednesday." The results of the trial "had been closely watched because a success would have paved the way to a new use of the drug." Data from the trial is expected to "be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting" late May. The trial included "2,700 patients who received six months of the standard chemotherapy or six months of that chemotherapy plus a year of Avastin." But, because "the existing chemotherapy already keeps about 70 percent of colon cancer patients free of the disease three years after their surgery," the company "had rated the chance of success in the trial at 61 percent." 
  Bloomberg News (4/22, Doherty) reports that the drug is "already approved for patients with cancers that have spread beyond the breast, colon, and lung." Roche said that it "plans further tests for early stage use" of the drug, and, according to Bill Burns, head of Roche's pharmaceutical division, the company "doesn't view the results as a setback." In fact, "the study only ever had a 50:50 chance of success," he stated. Dow Jones Newswires (4/22, Schoemaker) also covers the story.