The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration has approved Avastin, a new drug to be used to treat patients with aggressive, persistent or late-stage cancer.

 The drug works by targeting blood vessels that encourage the development of cancerous cells. It can be used in combination with chemotherapy drugs paclitaxel and cisplatin or in combination with paclitaxel and topotecan.

"Avastin is the first drug approved for patients with late-stage cervical cancer since the 2006 approval of topotecan with cisplatin," said Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a press statement. "It is also the first biologic agent approved for patients with late-stage cervical cancer and was approved in less than four months under the FDA's priority review program, demonstrating the agency's commitment to making promising therapies available to patients faster."

The effectiveness and safety of the drug was tested in a clinical trial that included 452 patients with persistent, recurrent, or late-stage disease. They were randomly given paclitaxel and cisplatin with or without Avastin or paclitaxel and topotecan with or without Avastin. Those that received the drug combination with Avastin experienced an overall increase in survival of 16.8 months compared to 12.9 months among those that didn't receive Avastin.

The medication received approval under the agency's priority review program because the drug demonstrated the potential to be a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness over available therapy in the treatment of a serious condition.

Side effects of Avastin include  fatigue, decreased appetite, high blood pressure (hypertension), increased glucose in the blood (hyperglycemia), decreased magnesium in the blood (hypomagnesemia), urinary tract infection, headache and decreased weight. Perforations of the gastrointestinal tract and abnormal openings between the gastrointestinal tract and vagina (enterovaginal fistula) also were observed in Avastin-treated patients.