Avastin and Avascular necrosis

[jp81]

Hi everyone,

My mom has been on Avastin (plus Xeloda) for about three years now after her recurrence. She's doing well, but avascular necrosis is now slowly taking a toll. She has hip pain, and is finding it difficult to climb stairs.
We're considering stopping Avastin for a while, at least until her yearly PET scans in March. If those scans show NED (hoping for the best here), the plan is to discontinue Avastin long term but still continue Xeloda.

Genentech's website suggests taking it as long as it is tolerable (without an end-date). But it is certainly becoming harder. Has anyone else taken Avastin long term?

Thanks in advance.

[GrouseMan]

Yes - My wife was on it for almost 4 years. But She was not diagnosed with this side effect. She had some pretty bad lower back pain going on for about 6 months towards the end of her life. MRI etc didn't really sort out that back pain. Pretty inconclusive as to where it was coming from. I believe it was most likely from the hard to image tumor that was pressing on her Ureter and colon from her Peri cavity. This is eventually what caused her to pass. I suppose the Avastin might have contributed but I would have expected her to complain of other pains if that where the case.

Good Luck

GrouseMan

[jp81]

Thanks for your inputs GrouseMan, I'll discuss it with my mom.

Best wishes to you and your family.