THURSDAY, Dec. 8, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- The combination of frequent but low doses of chemotherapy, along with the angiogenesis-inhibitor drug Avastin resulted in partial cancer shrinkage in some women with advanced breast cancer, according to a new study.
The pilot study of 55 women found that the combination of low-dose chemotherapy -- a new strategy called "metronomic delivery" -- and Avastin (bevacizumab) delayed breast cancer progression by an average of 5.5 months, compared to two months with low-dose chemotherapy alone.
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston presented the findings Thursday at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The study received funding from Genentech, Inc., the maker of Avastin.
"Pairing metronomic therapy with a dedicated angiogenesis inhibitor showed clinical activity, and was quite well tolerated. We think this is a combination worth pursuing and are exploring this treatment concept further in a Phase II study, which extends the treatments into early stage breast cancer therapy," Dr. Harold Burstein, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber, said in a prepared statement.
The study is one of the first to test a treatment strategy proposed several years ago as a way to improve chemotherapy treatment results for breast cancer patients.
Normally, high doses of chemotherapy are given at intervals of two to three weeks. The gap in treatment is meant to give patients time to recover from chemotherapy side effects. However, research has suggested this recovery period gives time for blood vessels feeding tumors to re-form after they have been destroyed by the chemotherapy.
It was suggested that frequent low doses of chemotherapy may be able to prevent the re-growth of these tumor blood vessels. The growth of new blood vessels is called angiogenesis.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer treatments.
