What Is Avastin and How Does It Work for Colorectal Cancer?

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. It occurs in about 8% of people in the U.S. during their lifetime. When colorectal cancer is detected early and has not spread, the 5-year survival rate is about 90%. Yet, up to 20% of people have metastatic cancer when they are diagnosed. This means cancer cells have spread to other areas of the body.

Chemotherapy is often the first-choice treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. However, chemotherapy can be combined with other treatments to help better manage symptoms. One potential type of treatment that can be combined with chemotherapy is called targeted therapy. These medications focus on stopping cancer cells from growing and spreading. An example of a targeted therapy medication is Avastin (bevacizumab).

Read on to learn how Avastin treats colorectal cancer and what people receiving Avastin can expect.

Promotion disclosure

Avastin

Avg retail price

$4414.27(Save 17.69%)

GoodRx discount

$3633.51

See all discounts

How it works

Use GoodRx to find medications, pharmacies, and discounts.

GoodRx discounts can help you pay less for your prescription.

Bring your free coupon or savings card to the pharmacy.

What is Avastin?

Avastin is a monoclonal antibody medication. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-made proteins that attach to specific cells or substances in a person’s body. When used for treating cancer, these proteins attach to cancer cells. In Avastin’s case, once the monoclonal antibody attaches to the cancer cells, it helps stop cancer cells from growing. 

Avastin belongs to a group of medications known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors. It’s sometimes also called an angiogenesis inhibitor. The word angiogenesis means to make new blood vessels.

VEGF is a protein that tells the body to make new blood vessels. Some cancer cells make more of this protein than normal cells. More VEGF leads to more blood going to the cancer cells. And more blood helps the cancer cells grow and multiply.

Avastin blocks VEGF. This cuts off the blood supply to the cancer cells, slowing the cancer’s growth.

What conditions does Avastin treat?

Avastin was first FDA-approved in 2004 to treat metastatic colorectal cancer. It’s now also approved to treat other cancers that use VEGF to grow. Depending on the cancer, Avastin can be used alone or together with chemotherapy.

The FDA has approved Avastin to treat the following types of cancer:

• Metastatic colorectal cancer

• Non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer

• Glioblastoma (a type of cancer in the brain or spine) that has returned after treatment

• Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer)

• Cervical cancer

• Ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal (the lining of the abdomen) cancer

• Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer)

Avastin can also be used off-label to treat other types of cancer. The decision to use Avastin off-label would be made on an individual basis between a person and their oncologist (cancer specialist). 

In this article, we will focus on Avastin’s role in treating colorectal cancer.

What happens during an Avastin treatment?

People receive Avastin as an intravenous (IV) infusion. This means it’s slowly given directly into a vein. Avastin is typically given at an infusion center, since it requires special preparation and equipment.

When used to treat colorectal cancer, Avastin is given every 2 to 3 weeks. The first infusion usually takes 90 minutes. As long as you tolerate the infusion without any issues, the second dose can be shortened to 60 minutes. Following this, all future infusions can be given over a 30-minute period. This process helps ensure that you safely tolerate the infusion.

While receiving Avastin, a nurse or healthcare provider will watch you for signs of an infusion reaction. This is a bad reaction that happens while receiving an IV infusion. Infusion reactions are possible with many IV medications, not just Avastin.

Symptoms of an infusion reaction include:

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Hives

• Itching

• Shortness of breath

• Trouble breathing

• Tongue swelling

If you develop an infusion reaction, the infusion will be slowed down or paused. When symptoms improve, the infusion can often be restarted at a slower rate. 

What are the side effects of using Avastin?

Everyone’s experience with Avastin is different. Some people have very few side effects. Others experience many. Let your healthcare provider know what you feel after receiving Avastin. They may be able to suggest ways to ease or lessen these side effects.

Some of the more common Avastin side effects include:

• High blood pressure

• Protein in urine

• Bleeding (e.g. nose bleeds)

• Back pain

• Headache

• Changes in taste

• Dry skin

• Watery eyes

Avastin side effects can sometimes become very dangerous and even life-threatening. These serious side effects include:

• Holes in the stomach or intestines

• Fistula (abnormal holes or passages in the body)

• Blood clot complications, including strokes or heart attacks

• Wounds that take a long time to heal

• Serious bleeding (e.g., coughing up blood, vomiting blood)

• Dangerously high blood pressure

• Kidney damage

• Heart failure

• Vision loss

• Seizures

Many of the above complications are rare, but it’s still important to be aware of them. Your healthcare provider will watch for these serious Avastin side effects as you continue your treatment.

How long can I stay on Avastin for colorectal cancer?

People receiving Avastin therapy often receive it with a chemotherapy regimen that includes a medication called fluorouracil (5-FU). After finishing their initial chemotherapy treatment, people may continue taking Avastin and 5-FU long term. Your healthcare provider may have you stay on these medications as long as your cancer doesn’t worsen and side effects are manageable. This is because this combination can prevent further cancer cells from growing.

What is the success rate of Avastin?

Avastin doesn’t cure colorectal cancer. But it can lengthen survival for some people. A study showed that people who received Avastin along with chemotherapy medications survived longer than people who only received chemotherapy. In this study, people using Avastin survived roughly 5 months longer than those not using it.

Another study showed similar results. People who used Avastin along with a chemotherapy regimen survived about 2 months longer than those who didn’t use Avastin.

Based on these and other studies, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommends adding Avastin to chemotherapy when treating metastatic colorectal cancer. 

The NCCN also states that FDA-approved Avastin biosimilars are acceptable to use in place of Avastin. Currently, there are two Avastin biosimilars: Mvasi (bevacizumab-awwb) and Zirabev (bevacizumab-bvzr).

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Kevin Le, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS

Kevin Le, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS is a clinical pharmacy specialist in solid organ transplant at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. He has been working as a pediatric pharmacist since 2016.

Edited by:

Christina Aungst, PharmD

Christina Aungst, PharmD, is a pharmacy editor for GoodRx. She began writing for GoodRx Health in 2019, transitioning from freelance writer to editor in 2021.

Reviewed by:

John Strickler, MD

John Strickler, MD, joined the Duke University faculty in 2011 and is now an associate professor of medicine in the division of medical oncology. His research focuses on precision cancer medicine: identification of genomic biomarkers that predict sensitivity or resistance to targeted therapies and immunotherapy.

Our editorial standards

Meet our experts