Avastin to be used for lung cancer

When it was still in development and clinical trials, avastin (bevacizumab) was used in trials for mesothelioma. The authorities sometimes allow experimental drugs to be used in mesothelioma treatment, partly because there are so few effective treatments for mesothelioma and because it more or less an orphan disease (i.e. rare).

Avastin was eventually “approved” by the FDA for colon cancer, and the drug companies have been trying to get it approved for other types of cancer. This week, the FDA approved avastin for lung cancer. Of course, lung cancer is not the same as mesothelioma, but it’s sort of heartening to those of us who think about mesothelioma to know that some work on mesothelioma contributed to advances in treatment for other cancers.