Colon Cancer drug back on the menu for patients

Colorectal cancer patients could be in for a second dose of the drug Avastin, even though they have already taken it – and their cancer has worsened.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s new ruling will allow patients first treated with Avastin plus chemotherapy to be treated again with the drug, in combination with a different chemotherapy regimen.

The biotechnology drug is made by Roche and is approved in the US for the treatment of glioblastoma, brain tumors and klung and kidney cancers.

Avastin is also known as Bevacizumab. Worldwide sales totalled $5.3 billion Swiss francs ($5.5billion) in 2011.