Novel Anticancer Drug

After many years of study and research, the drug bevacizumab (Avastatin) was approved by the American FDA to treat the threat of colon cancer. This new novel drug may also be effective against other types of cancers. What is unique about Avastatin is the way it fights cancer.. By shutting down the flow of blood supply.

For decades, doctors have known that cancer needs to form a network new blood vessels to grow and spread in a process called angiogenesis. The protein that fuels this process is called vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF. Avastatin works by blocking this protein. Starved of oxygen and crucial nutrients, malignant tumors shrivel, thereby slowing the spread of the cancer. The drug, the first of its kind to win FDA approval, also helps increase the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy.