Johns Hopkins Study Challenges Benefit of Certain Anticancer Drugs

Published laboratory data from Johns Hopkins University refutes studies suggesting blood vessels that form within brain cancers are largely made up of cancer cells. The theory of cancer-based blood vessels challenges the use and value of anticancer drugs such as bevacizumab (Avastin) that target these blood vessels.

“We don’t question whether brain cancer cells have the potential to express blood vessel markers and may occasionally find their way into blood vessels, but we do question the extent to which this happens,” says Charles Eberhart, MD, PhD, chief of neuropathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “In general, we find no evidence in our study that these vessels contain substantial amounts of cancer cells.” For more information, click here to read the full release.