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Targeted Drugs Take a Crack at Brain Cancer

Posted on May 21, 2008

The prognosis for Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was diagnosed yesterday with a malignant glioma, isn t good. But research into this relatively common form of brain cancer is showing new possibilities for treating the disease.A wave of cancer drugs that target a molecule called VEGF appears especially promising, Timothy Cloughesy, director of neuro-oncology at UCLA, told the Health Blog. Genentech s Avastin targets VEGF and is approved to treat colorectal and lung cancers. Even though it s not approved by FDA to treat glioblastomas (the most aggressive gliomas), Avastin is widely used off-label a...

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cancer , liver , liver cancer , lung