UCLA Study Finds that Brain Cancer Treatments Are Predictable

In May 2009, the US Food and Drug administration approved the use of a cancer fighting drug called Avastin for the treatment of brain cancer. Unfortunately, although the drug is one of a few effective brain cancer treatments, it doesn't always work. In fact, about 50% of patients will not respond to the drug at all and at a cost of $10,000 or more per month this is a very gut wrenching experience for some not to mention the negative side effects that are also associated with Avastin. This has been a very big downfall to the use of this brain cancer treatment--until now! Recent UCLA studies show that brain cancer treatments with Avastin can be predicted before a patient is ever even subjected to the drug one time!

The latest UCLA method claims to be able to predict which brain tumors will actually be treatable and will respond to the use of Avastin before the high potency cancer drug is ever even administered to the patient. UCLA researchers claim that the amount of water movement that is evident in a brain tumor is a key to the prediction of how (or if) it will respond to Avastin or other brain cancer treatments.

What this Means for Brain Cancer Patients

Patients who are diagnosed with a brain tumor that is cancerous will no longer have to undergo harmful Avastin treatment that is very costly only to see that the treatment is ineffective. With 70% accuracy, researchers have been able to determine who would respond to Avastin and how effect this brain cancer treatment would be in fighting certain tumors in the brain. This is a miraculous improvement over the earlier--trial and error method that has plagued cancer patients who were previously treated with Avastin.

Avastin drug therapy clinical trials showed that although Avastin is an effective brain cancer treatment, it does not come without the possibility of great side effects. Some of the clinical trial side effects from this drug included headaches, convulsions, and seizures. These side effects didn't always show up right away either--sometimes they can take up to a year to show up! The latest UCLA study and the ability to predict the effectiveness of this potent drug in its ability to fight brain cancer will likely result in fewer patients being given the drug when their tumors are unlikely to respond to the treatment in a positive way. The result--less negative side effects for unnecessary or ineffective Avastin treatments.

How Doctors Can Make These Predictions

Doctors will be able to make an educated prediction just by doing a simple MRI scan of the brain tumors to determine the amount of water movement within the tumors. Armed with information that will help them to determine (with up to 70% accuracy) whether of not Avastin is a logical treatment method, doctors will have better capabilities to create focused treatment plans for each individual patient. While this doesn't mark the use of Avastin out for those patients who are less likely to respond, it helps both doctor and patient to be able to make an informed decision based on the type of brain cancer treatments that are available!