Genentech, Inc announced results from a phase II study evaluating the combination of Avastin (bevacizumab) and gemcitabine chemotherapy in the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer and additional analyses from the pivotal Avastin phase III trial in metastatic colorectal cancer.

The phase II study, presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), by Hedy Kindler from the University of Chicago Medical Centre, summarised safety and efficacy data from 45 patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who received treatment with Avastin plus gemcitabine chemotherapy. At the time of analysis, 42 patients were evaluable for response.

In this study, the estimated one-year survival was 54 per cent and the median time to disease progression was 5.8 months. The results suggest that 21 per cent of patients (9/42) experienced a partial response to treatment lasting a median of 9.4 months and 45 per cent of patients (19/42) achieved stable disease lasting a median of 5.4 months. Median survival was nine months.

Adverse events in this Phase II study were consistent with those seen in previous Avastin clinical trials in colorectal cancer. Sixteen per cent of patients (17/104) in the Avastin plus chemotherapy arm experienced Grade 3 hypertension compared to 3 per cent (3/105) in the chemotherapy arm.

These studies were part of more than 20 abstracts evaluating Avastin in the treatment of seven different cancers presented at the ASCO.