Prescribed Medications for Lung Cancer: Bevacizumab (Hamster) Solution for injection

It targets a protein found in many cancer cell types, and halts cancer growth

Generic Name: bevacizumab

Brand Names: Avastin

There is an FDA Alert for this drug. Click here to view it.

What is this medicine?

BEVACIZUMAB (be va SIZ yoo mab) is a chemotherapy drug. It targets a protein found in many cancer cell types, and halts cancer growth. This drug treats many cancers including non-small cell lung cancer, and colon or rectal cancer. It is usually given with other chemotherapy drugs.

What should I tell my health care provider before I take this medicine?

They need to know if you have any of these conditions:

• blood clots
• heart disease, including heart failure, heart attack, or chest pain (angina)
• high blood pressure
• infection (especially a virus infection such as chickenpox, cold sores, or herpes)
• kidney disease
• lung disease
• prior chemotherapy with doxorubicin, daunorubicin, epirubicin, or other anthracycline type chemotherapy agents
• recent or ongoing radiation therapy
• recent surgery
• stroke
• an unusual or allergic reaction to bevacizumab, hamster proteins, mouse proteins, other medicines, foods, dyes, or preservatives
• pregnant or trying to get pregnant
• breast-feeding

How should I use this medicine?

This medicine is for infusion into a vein. It is given by a health care professional in a hospital or clinic setting.

Talk to your pediatrician regarding the use of this medicine in children. Special care may be needed.

What if I miss a dose?

It is important not to miss your dose. Call your doctor or health care professional if you are unable to keep an appointment.

What may interact with this medicine?

Interactions are not expected.

What should I watch for while using this medicine?

Your condition will be monitored carefully while you are receiving this medicine. You will need important blood work and urine testing done while you are taking this medicine.

During your treatment, let your health care professional know if you have any unusual symptoms, such as difficulty breathing.

This medicine may rarely cause 'gastrointestinal perforation' (holes in the stomach, intestines or colon), a serious side effect requiring surgery to repair.

This medicine should be started at least 28 days following major surgery and the site of the surgery should be totally healed. Check with your doctor before scheduling dental work or surgery while you are receiving this treatment. Talk to your doctor if you have recently had surgery or if you have a wound that has not healed.

Do not become pregnant while taking this medicine. Women should inform their doctor if they wish to become pregnant or think they might be pregnant. There is a potential for serious side effects to an unborn child. Talk to your health care professional or pharmacist for more information. Do not breast-feed an infant while taking this medicine.

This medicine has caused ovarian failure in some women. This medicine may interfere with the ability to have a child. You should talk to your doctor or health care professional if you are concerned about your fertility.

Chemotherapy? What Is Chemotherapy and why?

Chemotherapy is an aggressive form of chemical drug therapy meant to destroy rapidly growing cells in the body. It is usually used for cancer, as cancer cells grow and divide faster than other cells.

Chemotherapy is often used in combination with other therapies, such as surgery, radiation, or hormone therapy. However, this depends on the stage and type of cancer, your overall health, previous cancer treatments, location of cancer cells, and your personal treatment preferences.

It is considered a systemic treatment, which means it affects the entire body.

While chemotherapy has been proven to effectively attack cancer cells, it can cause serious side effects that can severely impact your quality of life. You should weigh these side effects against the risk of not getting treatment when deciding if chemotherapy is right for you.

   Why Chemotherapy Is Used?

Chemotherapy is primarily used for three reasons:

• to lower the total number of cancer cells in your body
• to reduce the likelihood of cancer spread
• to shrink tumor size and reduce current symptoms

If you’ve undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumor—such as a lumpectomy for breast cancer—your doctor may have you undergo chemotherapy to ensure that any stray cancer cells are killed as well. (A doctor who specializes in cancer treatment is known as an oncologist.)

Chemotherapy is also used to prepare you for other treatments. It could be used to shrink a tumor so it can be surgically removed or to prepare you for radiation therapy.

In the case of late-stage cancer, when no amount of therapy can help the patient, chemotherapy may help relieve pain.

Besides treatment for cancer, chemotherapy may be used for:

• bone marrow diseases: to prepare a patient for a bone marrow stem cell treatment
• immune system disorders: doses much lower than those used to treat cancer can be used to help disorders—like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis—where the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells

   Side Effects of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is designed to kill cells that divide quickly. While cancer cells are these kinds of cells, other cells in your body divide quickly as well. Cells in the blood, hair, skin, and lining of your intestinal tract can be adversely affected.

Because of this, side effects of chemotherapy include:

• easy bruising and excessive bleeding
• diarrhea
• dry mouth and mouth sores
• fatigue
• fever
• hair loss
• loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss
• pain from nerve damage
• infections

Your doctor can help you better manage these side effects with medications, lifestyle tips, and more.

Most side effects of chemotherapy subside when treatment is over. There is, however, the risk of long-lasting effects that may develop even years after the treatment, depending on the type of chemotherapy used.

These could include damage to the:

• heart
• kidneys
• lungs
• nerves
• reproductive organs

There is also the chance of developing a second cancer as a result of chemotherapy. Before beginning treatment, talk to your doctor about possible risks, and what symptoms you should be aware of.

Research Institute receives Fast Track status for its gene therapy product for treatment of SMA

spinal muscular atrophy

AveXis and BioLife, synthetic biology platform companies, today announced that The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its scAAV9.CB.SMN gene therapyproduct for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This new gene therapy product created by scientists at The Research Institute was granted Fast Track status after demonstrating preliminary effectiveness in mouse models of SMA, potentially addressing this unmet medical need.

"Fast track," an important hastened phase in the nation's drug review and approval process, signifies that the FDA can expedite the review and development of the scAAV9.CB.SMN gene therapy product which, in preclinical work, has shown to slow the progression of SMA symptoms.

SMA is the most common genetic cause of infant death. SMA is an autosomal recessive disease caused by a genetic defect in the SMN1 gene that encodes for the SMN protein. SMA manifests in various degrees of severity which all have in common general muscle wasting and mobility impairment.

The scAAV9.CB.SMN gene therapy product currently being developed by The Research Institute, received an IND approval in September 2013 to initiate Phase I clinical testing in SMA Type 1patients.The clinical trial is sponsored by The Sophia's Cure Foundation and AveXis/BioLife.

"Today's notice of Fast Track designation is welcomed news. This demonstrates to the families afflicted with SMA, the FDA's regulatory priority for addressing this orphan disease," said Chief Executive Officer John A. Carbona.

Source: AveXis 

Social Anxiety Disorder

A Glimpse of its Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Social anxiety disorder is all about getting embarrassed and uncomfortable in front of other people due to an uncertain fear, the fear of being judged by the people. This is such a strong phobia that you may encounter it while doing your everyday routine work.

No doubt there is always some nervousness if you are going to deliver a speech in front of public, or meeting with new people, but what happens with people suffering from social anxiety disorder is that they start getting worried and nervous days before such things happen.

People with social anxiety disorder don’t even feel easy doing anything common if someone is watching them. They might get afraid of using a public washroom, or signing a cheque at a departmental store, or in bank, or they even may get afraid of drinking juice or cola at a public place. Some people face such problem only during certain situations or in some specific places, while the majority of them face this problem in all social circumstances. A person actually doesn’t have control most of the time to cover such problems, despite them knowing there is nothing to be afraid of.

Symptoms of social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder has very clear symptoms. For example, the person tends to stay away from people or places, always in a fear of being judged by other people. They start fearing about any social meeting days before it happens, often finding difficulty in making friendships, They feel self-conscious and embarrassed in crowded place and might sometime feel nauseous when meeting with other people. People suffering from social anxiety disorder want to talk with other people, but most of the time they find it very difficult.

Unknown causes

Social anxiety disorder is common in families in some cases, but it is yet to be known why some people don’t have any such feelings while others are seriously disturbed. Researchers are working hard on finding the actual causes that results in social anxiety disorder.

Treatment methods

Commonly, for social anxiety disorder, there are two types of treatments in practice: medication, or counseling with a psychologist. Sometimes both treatment methods are used side by side. It has been observed that not all the treatment methods affect every patient, rather one individual might have a better outcome by using one method, while the other becomes fine by using the other treatment method.

Psychotherapy is considered to be a better treatment for most of the people suffering from social anxiety disorder. In psychotherapy, a person is told how they can come up against negative thoughts and start thinking positive about him. The method of cognitive behavioral therapy uses the idea that the person’s own thoughts and mindset determines how they should react or behave with others, while situations or meeting with people must not have any impact on their behavior.

This type of therapy is mostly used for counseling with people having social anxiety disorder. Sometimes a person is told to practice situations that induce anxiety upon them. This way a confidence is developed in their mind and they start to behave better in meeting others, or while talking to people.

There are several types of medicines that have been manufactured to assist in the treatment of social anxiety disorders. The medicines are referred by a consultant on the basis of the level of social anxiety disorder and the treatment method required.