Replies to post #208935 on NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[flipper44]

Avastin is the fourth largest selling oncology drug in the world. Its claims to help GBM patients are highly suspect. It does not help overall survival, according to the company's own findings, and it actually hastens death in people 50 and under. While speculation, it is my hypothesis that because it temporarily "blankets" imaging from view, while the tumor still grows, its out of sight out of mind proposition probably keeps some patients from thinking about alternatives like second surgery or other options.

Here is another reason why Avastin probably interferes with survival in young people.

The paradoxical effect of bevacizumab in the therapy of malignant gliomas
Eric M. Thompson, MD, Eugene P. Frenkel, MD, and Edward A. Neuwelt, MDcorresponding author
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Abstract
One rationale behind the use of agents that inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor in the therapy of primary CNS malignancies is based upon the concept that normalization of tumor vasculature with a decrease in tumor interstitial pressure will improve access of cytoreductive drugs and improve radiotherapy efficacy due to increased oxygen delivery. However, several studies have raised the concern that these agents may both rapidly restore the low permeability characteristics of the blood–brain barrier and counteract the beneficial effect of pseudoprogression. The result may be decreased therapeutic efficacy while increasing infiltration by co-opting normal vessels.