Cancer Drug Avastin Increases Risk Of Blood Clots In Veins

Washington (dbTechno) - According to a new analysis of the popular cancer drug Avastin, it has been found to actually increase the risk of blood clots in the veins.

Researchers led by Dr. Shenhong Wu of Stony Brook University Cancer Center in New York analyzed a total of 15 clinical trials.

The clinical trials they looked at involved around 8,000 people and focused on the popular cancer drug Avastin from Roche and Genentech.

What they found in the study was that the cancer drug actually increased the risk of developing blood clots in the veins.

There was a “significant increased risk” for those taking Avastin while on chemotherapy as well.

The overall risk of blood clot in the veins increased by one-third overall.

Instead of no longer taking Avastin, researchers are instead urging doctors to try to pay closer attention to see if blood clots do form, since the drug does do a lot of good.

Avastin was found to increase the risk by about 33% in these cancer patients.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.