No too long ago United Healthcare put out an oncology report and the questioning of the use of Avastin and it was mentioned as an area where they felt guidelines for their recommended treatment were not followed according to the data house on informational statistics. It is fairly expensive drug and here’s a short summary 
of the prior post.
“The company especially probed the use of high-price biotech drugs, which it says it found in some cases are being prescribed inappropriately. One NCCN guideline for colon-cancer patients advises that patients get chemotherapy after surgery, but in 31% of cases, the care did not comply with the rule. Instead, in the bulk of those cases, patients were prescribed Avastin, a Roche Holding AG biologic that is unproven in that patient group, says Dr. Newcomer. And among patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, about 24% received Avastin, even though their disease didn't meet the right criteria to get the drug, UnitedHealthcare found.”
Also at UCLA Avastin has been found to increase survival times with patients who have brain cancer. FDA approval helps but doesn’t always guarantee that the patients will have access with insurance coverage. The intent to file for approval was announced this week at the annual ASCO convention. BD
Avastin Increasing Response and Survival Times With Brain Cancer - UCLA
A new drug developed by a subsidiary of Roche pharmaceuticals, Genentech, has significantly increased survival time in patients with untreated ovarian cancer. Genentech, located outside San Francisco, has announced plans to apply to the FDA to use the drug for treatment of ovarian cancer as well as cancers of the colon and prostate.
The drug called Avastin, has been developed to target a specific protein called vascular endothelial growth factor. The protein is present in the body as a response to invading viruses of abnormal cells. Drugs that target the specific proteins that respond to this type of illness have been proven effective in reducing the duration of the illness as well as reducing the negative side effects other drugs previously used for this cancer treatment. This gives the patient a better quality of life as well as a more comfortable recovery period.
New breakthrough in treating ovarian cancer » Gossip Jackal
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