Mayo Clinic Tests Combo of Avastin, Dasatinib to Stop Spread of Brain Tumors

The drug bevacizumab — also known by the trade name Avastin — shrinks tumors briefly in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, but they often grow again and spread throughout the brain for reasons not understood … until now. Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that pairing Avastin with another cancer drug, dasatinib, can stop tumors from spreading. Dasatinib is approved for use in several blood cancers.

The findings, based on an animal study, are explained in the Feb. 14 online issue of PLOS ONE. Based on results, Mayo Clinic has already conducted a phase I clinical trial testing a combination of bevacizumab and dasatinib in glioblastoma patients for whome other therapies have failed. It currently is carrying out a randomized phase II study of 100 patients through Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a clinical trials network supported by the National Cancer Institute. For more information, click here to read the full article.