You might need a central line. This is a long plastic tube that gives the drugs into a large vein, either in your chest or through a vein in your arm. You have the first dose of bevacizumab over 90 minutes. If you don't have any problems, you have the second dose over 60 minutes.
If you don't have any problems, you have the third dose over 30 minutes. Every dose after that takes 30 minutes. You usually have bevacizumab Avastin every 2 to 3 weeks. Treatment usually continues for as long as it controls your cancer. You have blood tests before and during your treatment. They check your levels of blood cells and other substances in the blood.
They also check how well your liver and kidneys are working. We haven't listed all the side effects. It's very unlikely that you will have all of these side effects, but you might have some of them at the same time.
How often and how severe the side effects are can vary from person to person. They also depend on what other treatments you're having. For example, your side effects could be worse if you're also having other drugs or radiotherapy.
Your doctor, nurse or pharmacist will go through the possible side effects. They will monitor you closely during treatment and check how you are at your appointments.
Contact your advice line as soon as possible if:. You might have one or more of them. They include:. Tell your doctor or nurse if you are having treatment for high blood pressure. Or if you have headaches, nose bleeds, blurred or double vision or shortness of breath. Your nurse will check your blood pressure regularly. Numbness or tingling in fingers or toes is often temporary and can improve after you finish treatment.
Tell your doctor if you're finding it difficult to walk or complete fiddly tasks such as doing up buttons. Increased risk of getting an infection is due to a drop in white blood cells. Symptoms include a change in temperature, aching muscles, headaches, feeling cold and shivery and generally unwell.
You might have other symptoms depending on where the infection is. Infections can sometimes be life threatening. You should contact your advice line urgently if you think you have an infection. This is due to a drop in the number of platelets in your blood. These blood cells help the blood to clot when we cut ourselves.
You should continue to use birth control for 6 months after your last dose. Also, Avastin could affect your ability to get pregnant after treatment. If you want to plan a pregnancy in the future, talk with your doctor before starting Avastin treatment. You should not breastfeed while having treatment with Avastin and for 6 months after your last dose. Like many cancer treatments, Avastin can cause side effects, especially if you receive it with chemotherapy. Most side effects are mild and are usually temporary or easily managed.
But serious side effects are also possible, some of which may last a long time. Your doctor will carefully monitor you for these side effects during your treatment. This way, if such side effects happen, they can be detected and treated early. They can help you decide if this medication is a good option for you. Here are some examples of questions you might like to ask:.
Disclaimer: Healthline has made every effort to make certain that all information is factually correct, comprehensive, and up to date. However, this article should not be used as a substitute for the knowledge and expertise of a licensed healthcare professional. You should always consult your doctor or another healthcare professional before taking any medication.
The drug information contained herein is subject to change and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. The absence of warnings or other information for a given drug does not indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective, or appropriate for all patients or all specific uses.
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What are the mild side effects of Avastin? What are the serious side effects of Avastin? Side effects explained. Warnings for Avastin. What to ask your doctor. Ask a pharmacist. Anti-Cancer Supplements. But sometimes the drug is used off-label to treat this condition. AMD causes problems such as blurred vision or a blind spot. Avastin has been used off-label to treat wet AMD. With this condition, your body makes abnormal blood vessels in an area inside your eye that leak fluid into your eye.
In fact, one clinical study found that Avastin was as effective as ranibizumab Lucentis in treating wet AMD. And a review of clinical studies reported that Avastin was similar in safety when compared to Lucentis. Retinal hemorrhage bleeding in your retina is another possible side effect of Avastin.
But keep in mind that retinal hemorrhage can also be a symptom of macular edema. Macular edema, which is swelling inside your eye, is related to macular degeneration.
But sometimes the drug is used off-label for this condition. Radiation necrosis is a possible side effect of radiation therapy also called radiotherapy. Radiation therapy is used to treat a variety of cancers, including glioblastomas a type of brain cancer. In a review of clinical studies, Avastin was effective in treating radiation necrosis affecting the brain. But more research is needed to know the appropriate dosage of Avastin for this condition.
And more research is needed to know how long the drug should be used for radiation necrosis. However, in , the FDA withdrew this approval. This program allows drugs that treat serious health conditions and fill unmet medical needs to get approved faster than usual. But when these drugs are approved, the drug manufacturer must still complete follow-up clinical studies to confirm the results of early studies. In this case, both the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee and the FDA looked at early study results versus follow-up study results of breast cancer treatment with Avastin.
However, Avastin may still be used off-label for breast cancer treatment. Some clinical studies that looked at Avastin as a breast cancer treatment found that the drug offers some benefit. With diabetic retinopathy, blood vessels in your retina an area inside your eye become damaged from diabetes. One clinical study found that Avastin improved diabetic retinopathy. Avastin also slowed the disease from worsening in people who took the drug.
With endometrial cancer, the lining of your uterus called the endometrium is affected. One clinical study found that Avastin, when used in combination with the chemotherapy drugs paclitaxel and carboplatin, may improve overall survival in people with endometrial cancer.
Overall survival describes the length of time that people live after their condition is diagnosed or treatment is started. However, Avastin used in combination with the chemotherapy drugs ixabepilone and carboplatin did not improve overall survival in people with endometrial cancer.
The study also showed that side effects from Avastin were very common in people with endometrial cancer. But another study showed that Avastin did improve PFS in people with endometrial cancer. Avastin contains the active drug bevacizumab, which is a biologic. Biologic medications are made from living cells.
Biosimilars are similar to a brand-name biologic medication, such as Avastin. Biosimilars are considered to be just as safe and effective as their parent drug. Avastin can cause mild or serious side effects. The following lists contain some of the key side effects that may occur while taking Avastin.
These lists do not include all possible side effects. For more information on the possible side effects of Avastin, talk with your doctor or pharmacist. They can give you tips on how to deal with any side effects that may be bothersome. Most of these side effects may go away within a few days or a couple of weeks. Call your doctor right away if you have serious side effects. You may wonder how often certain side effects occur with Avastin.
As with most drugs, some people can have an allergic reaction after taking Avastin. A more severe allergic reaction is rare but possible. Symptoms of a severe allergic reaction can include:. Call your doctor right away if you have a severe allergic reaction to Avastin. And 0. While taking Avastin, you should regularly monitor your blood pressure. If your blood pressure increases, let your doctor know right away.
Some people have dangerously high blood pressure readings while taking Avastin. This condition is known as hypertensive crisis. It occurs when either:. When your blood pressure rises this high, it can cause damage to organs in your body, such as your brain, eyes, heart, or kidneys. When organ damage occurs, the condition is known as a hypertensive emergency. Hypertensive emergency can be life threatening. You should call if you have any of the following symptoms:. One clinical study looked at using Avastin for kidney cancer.
In this study, people took Avastin with another drug called interferon alfa. Only 8 of the people had blurry vision. In this same study, people took a placebo no active drug along with interferon alfa. None of these people had blurry vision. However, blurry vision can be a sign of other side effects of Avastin. For example, blurry vision can be a symptom of high blood pressure , including dangerously high blood pressure. Your doctor will recommend whether or not you need medical treatment for your blurry vision.
With this condition, you may have peeling and redness of your skin over large areas of your body. Symptoms of exfoliative dermatitis can also include:. Exfoliative dermatitis is a serious condition that will likely require treatment in a hospital. If you have any symptoms of exfoliative dermatitis, call your doctor right away.
Avastin has caused minor bleeding, such as nosebleeds , in people taking the drug. Avastin has also caused severe bleeding called hemorrhage. In some cases, the bleeding has been fatal. During clinical studies , severe bleeding that required treatment or hospitalization occurred in 0. In comparison, severe bleeding that required treatment or hospitalization occurred in only 0. Varices are a possible complication of liver cancer, which Avastin is used to treat.
Varices are swollen blood vessels around your esophagus. In some cases, varices may burst and cause severe bleeding. If you have bleeding caused by varices while taking Avastin, your doctor may prescribe another treatment for you. If you have any symptoms of severe bleeding, call your doctor right away.
But if your symptoms feel life threatening, call or have someone take you to the nearest emergency room. Other drugs are available that can treat your condition. Some may be a better fit for you than others. For more detail, see "How this drug works" section below.
Note: If Avastin has been approved for one use, physicians may elect to use avastin for other problems if they believe it may be helpful. These are rare but serious complications of avastin therapy.
Not all side effects are listed above. However, you should always inform your health care provider if you experience any unusual symptoms. Contact your health care provider immediately , day or night, if you should experience any of the following symptoms:. The following symptoms require medical attention, but are not an emergency.
Contact your health care provider within 24 hours of noticing any of the following:. Always inform your health care provider if you experience any unusual symptoms. You will be checked regularly by your health care professional while you are taking avastin, to monitor side effects and check your response to therapy.
Periodic blood work to monitor your complete blood count CBC as well as the function of other organs such as your kidneys and liver will also be ordered by your doctor. Monoclonal antibodies are a relatively new type of "targeted" cancer therapy.
Antibodies are part of the immune system. Normally, the body creates antibodies in response to an antigen such as a protein in a germ entering the body. The antibodies attach to the antigen in order to mark it for destruction by the body's immune system. In the laboratory, scientists analyze specific antigens on the surface of cancer cells target to determine a protein to match the antigen.
Then, using animal and human proteins, scientists work to create a special antibody that will attach to the target antigen. Antibodies will attach to matching antigens like a key fits a lock. This technology allows treatment to target specific cells, causing less toxicity to healthy cells.
Monoclonal antibody therapy can be done only for cancers in which antigens and the respective antibodies have been identified. Avastin works by interfering with the process of angiogenesis by targeting and inhibiting human vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF.
VEGF is a cytokine a small protein released by cells that have specific effects on the behavior of cells which when it interacts with its receptors in the cell leads to new blood vessel formation or angiogenesis. Note: We strongly encourage you to talk with your health care professional about your specific medical condition and treatments.
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