FDA approves first-of-a-kind cancer fighter

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The government on Thursday approved the first drug that promises to attack cancer by choking off its blood supply, a colon cancer treatment called Avastin. <br><br>The drug has only a

Thursday, February 26th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The government on Thursday approved the first drug that promises to attack cancer by choking off its blood supply, a colon cancer treatment called Avastin.

The drug has only a modest benefit _ it can extend the lives of patients with advanced colon cancer by about five months, the Food and Drug Administration cautioned.

But it's a significant development, because Avastin becomes the first drug proved to work according to a novel theory that tumors must form a network of blood vessels to survive _ and that shutting down that process, called angiogenesis, could fight cancer in a manner completely different than other treatments.