Canada Pharmacy Review on Ovarian Tumor Fighting Drugs

French researchers report that a targeted therapy already enlisted in the fight against colorectal cancer, lung cancer and kidney cancer may also have a role to play in recalcitrant ovarian cancer. Gemzar injection is one of the oncology drugs highlighted to have successfully helped ovarian cancer patients. 

"This is the first time that there has been a significant advance in these difficult-to-treat patients," said study author Dr. Eric Pujade-Lauraine, head of medical oncology at Hopitaux Universitaires Paris-Centre site Hotel-Dieu, in France. "These data open a new era for biologics when chemotherapy is not doing its job in recurrent ovarian cancer." 

According to Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, a gynecologic oncologist and pelvic surgeon with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, some physicians are already using Avastin in these settings. 

This trial, she said, "provides further evidence of benefit." 

Avastin was the first in a class of drugs developed to inhibit angiogenesis, or the formation of blood vessels, which helps fuel a tumor's growth.

This study is actually the fourth phase 3 trial finding some benefit to using Avastin for different stages of ovarian cancer, said Dr. Jamal Rahaman, an associate clinical professor in the division of gynecologic oncology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City. 

"It may not seem like three months is spectacular progression-free survival, but this suggests that angiogenesis drugs probably have a real role to play [in ovarian cancer]," Poynor explained. "We're defining how to use Avastin in ovarian cancer." 

"They were picking out the very, very best patients here, which does not necessarily translate to all patients with ovarian cancer," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La. 

The challenge now is to select those patients for whom Avastin would be most beneficial, said Rahaman. 

"The community is trying to figure out if we can identify those women who would get the most benefit so we can justify the cost and the increased side effects," he said. 

A year's worth of Avastin runs about $100,000 a year in the United States, he added. 

"This is very early research," Brooks said. "With time, as the data matures, we will begin to answer the question as to whether this drug is really worthwhile."  While the research is on-going, to buy Gemzaronline is considered one of the best alternatives. 

Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses. 

Most (more than 90%) ovarian cancers are classified as "epithelial" and are believed to arise from the surface (epithelium) of the ovary. However, some evidence suggests that the fallopian tube could also be the source of some ovarian cancers. Since the ovaries and tubes are closely related to each other, it is thought that these fallopian cancer cells can mimic ovarian cancer. Other types may arise from the egg cells (germ cell tumor) or supporting cells. These cancers are grouped into the category of gynecologic cancer. 

Signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are frequently absent early on and when they exist they may be subtle. In most cases, the symptoms persist for several months before being recognized and diagnosed. Most women with ovarian cancer report one or more symptoms such as abdominal pain or discomfort, an abdominal mass, bloating, back pain, urinary urgency, constipation, tiredness and a range of other non-specific symptoms, as well as more specific symptoms such as pelvic pain, abnormal vaginal bleeding or involuntary weight loss. There can be a build-up of fluid (ascites) in the abdominal cavity.