Avastin.net

Why search for a biomarker for Avastin?

• Biomarkers can generally be characterised as one or both of the following¹¹
  • prognostic markers: indicative of the natural course of disease, regardless of therapy
  • predictive markers: determine likely efficacy of a particular therapy.
• Many agents that are widely used for the treatment of cancer (e.g. chemotherapy, immunotherapy) only elicit a response in a proportion of patients, yet are administered to unselected populations.
• The identification of a predictive biomarker that can be used to select patients who may benefit from therapy with Avastin is of considerable interest

  • many trials in the current clinical trial programme include a broad biomolecular sample and testing programme to identify and evaluate potential biomarker candidates.

Ongoing and completed Avastin clinical trials that are participating in a biomarker programme

• However, such a biomarker may be very difficult, if not impossible, to find
  • there is considerable heterogeneity between the tumour types in which Avastin is used; finding a marker that will predict benefit in all indications is unlikely
  • clinical trial data currently support the use of Avastin in unselected patients in the absence of a predictive biomarker.^{5,7–10,12–14}