Cancer drug curbs radiation-induced vision loss

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters) Eye injections of the widely-used cancer drug Avastin (also called bevacizumab) curb vision loss caused by radiation treatment for eye cancer, according to results of study.

In a statement, Dr Paul T Finger, lead author of the study and director of Ocular Tumor Services at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, said, ''This is a major breakthrough for eye cancer patients who are treated with radiation therapy and commonly develop radiation retinopathy. Avastin reduces abnormal blood vessel growth, stops leakage in the eye and the patients wind up seeing better. This is a first.'' Radiation therapy is the treatment of choice for most patients with inflammation or cancer of the eye; but, it commonly causes a troubling side effect -- radiation retinopathy, which causes blindness.

In the medical journal Archives of Ophthalmology, Finger and co-author Dr Kimberly Chin describe six patients who experienced radiation retinopathy and were treated with intraocular injections of Avastin every 6 to 8 weeks.

Improvement in vision was apparent after 3 months, they report.

The drug improved or stabilized vision in all patients by reducing abnormal blood vessel growth, leakage in the eye and swelling -- the major causes of irreversible loss of vision in patients with radiation retinopathy, they note.

Two patients experienced improvements in visual acuity (sharpness), and four reported less distorted vision and haze.

There was no evidence of reduced visual acuity following the treatment.

''Before these Avastin findings, there was no effective treatment for macular radiation retinopathy,'' Finger stated. He reports that he has now used Avastin to successfully treat 28 patients with radiation retinopathy.

REUTERS RS HT0925