Cancer Therapy Center

The drug Avastin, used for both colorectal and lung cancer, has been linked to two potentially serious complications, the drug’s manufacturer warned Friday.

The first complication, labelled hypertensive encephalopathy, patients with an established history of very high blood pressure had unusually severe blood pressure that affected the brain. One case resulted in death.

The other complication, called reverisble posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (PPLS) is a rare neurologic disorder that can cause problems ranging from visual disturbance to headache to seizures.

 Doctors are being cautioned that they should discontinue Avastin in patients who develop RPLS, and should be more cautious about prescribing the drug for patients with existing high blood pressure.

Genentech won FDA approval to market Avastin as a general lung cancer treatment, potentially reviving sales growth for the firm’s second largest product. The FDA cleared the drug to treat the most common form of lung cancer, used in combination with chemotherapy, the California based company said. Avastin, previously used as a Colon cancer therapy, helped lung cancer patients live more than 2 months longer than those on chemotherapy alone.

While colorectal sales have slowed, Genentech believes that Avastin sales for lung cancer treatments may start near $400M in 2007 and reach $1.3B by 2010. Genentech had received initial approval of Avastin two years ago, and is currently testing Avastin on 25 types of tumors.

Lung cancer kills more Americans than any other type of cancer. The disease accounts for almost 30% of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., Genentech said, citing the American Cancer Society. About 60% of people with lung cancer die within a year of being diagnosed, according to the American Lung Assn.’s website.

Avastin’s average cost for a course of lung cancer treatment is about $56,000, Genentech said. The typical monthly cost at the dose required for advanced lung cancer is about $8,800. The company said it’s starting a program to cap the cost at $55,000 a year for eligible patients regardless of whether they have health insurance.