Roche's Avastin fails to meet endpoint of late-stage adjuvant colon cancer trial

Roche reported top-line results from a late-stage trial, demonstrating that Avastin (bevacizumab) plus chemotherapy did not meet its primary endpoint of improving disease-free survival in patients with early-stage colon cancer compared to those who received chemotherapy alone. The Swiss drugmaker noted that data from the AVANT study showed that standard chemotherapy plus one year of Avastin is not effective in reducing the risk of relapses in early-stage colon cancer.
Hal Barron, head of global product development at Roche, commented that "while we originally hoped the significant survival benefit of Avastin seen in metastatic disease in colorectal cancer would be translated to the early setting, it is becoming increasingly clear that the effects of Avastin are different in the metastatic and early disease settings for patients with colon cancer."

Reference Articles
Roche's Avastin fails to help early-stage colon cancer patients in study - (Bloomberg)
Roche's Avastin fails in late-stage colon cancer study - (Forexpros)
Roche provides results on Avastin in adjuvant colon cancer - (Roche)

**Published in "First Word"