Genentech's Avastin plus chemotherapy improved survival in cervical cancer

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group announced the results of a large, independent study, GOG240, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, NCI, and conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group, GOG, which showed that the addition of Avastin, bevacizumab, to chemotherapy, paclitaxel and cisplatin or paclitaxel and topotecan, extended the lives of women with advanced cervical cancer, compared to chemotherapy alone. The study met its primary endpoint of improving overall survival with a statistically significant 29% reduction in the risk of death for women who received Avastin plus chemotherapy compared to those who received chemotherapy alone (HR=0.71, p=0.0035). Women who received Avastin plus chemotherapy lived a median of 3.7 months longer compared to those who received chemotherapy alone; the median OS was 17.0 months with Avastin plus chemotherapy compared to 13.3 months for chemotherapy alone. No new safety signals related to Avastin were observed and overall safety was consistent with that seen in previous pivotal studies of Avastin across different tumor types.