Bevacizumab

Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody medication sold under the brand name Avastin among others, used to treat several cancers and one specific eye disease. For cancer it is given by slow injection into a vein, and it is used for colon, lung, ovarian, hepatocellular and renal-cell carcinoma and for glioblastoma, often as a first-line therapy. For age-related macular degeneration it is injected into the eye. It works as an angiogenesis inhibitor: by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) it slows the growth of new blood vessels, a treatment approach called anti-VEGF therapy. Common side effects in cancer treatment include nose bleeds, headache, high blood pressure and rash, while severe effects include gastrointestinal perforation, bleeding, allergic reactions, blood clots and increased risk of infection. It was approved for medical use in the United States in 2004 and appears on the World Health Organization List of Essential Medicines.