Thursday, December 3, 2009

the trial we're hoping to enroll Mom in

Here's the link to Super-Selective Intraarterial Intracranial Infusion of Avastin (Bevacizumab).

One scary research criterion on that page says the following:

No chemotherapy for six weeks prior to treatment under this research protocol and no external beam radiation for eight weeks prior to treatment under this research protocol.

Given how aggressive Mom's tumors are, we know that it takes only eight weeks for a tumor to grow to the size of the original mass in Mom's head. Six weeks without any chemotherapy? No Avastin, nothing? The wait alone might kill her.

Another likely obstacle to entering this clinical trial:

Patients must be able to understand and give written informed consent. Informed consent must be obtained at the time of patient screening.

It's unlikely that Mom would be able to understand what this trial is all about, let alone consent to participate in it. And Mom might already have failed one of the exclusion criteria:

Patients previously treated with more than 6 cycles of Avastin at 10/mg/kg.

She's had a lot of Avastin at this point-- well more than six cycles' worth, though I'm not sure of the specific dosage.

All the same, we'll see what the doctors in New York have to say. Maybe Mom can be a candidate for Phase II trials... but the time frame given for Phase I is three years. Mom can't wait that long.


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