Avastin shows promise in early brain cancer-study

* 61 pct of patients progression free at 15 months

* Little added toxicity seen with addition of Avastin

By Bill Berkrot

NEW YORK, May 14 (Reuters) - Roche's (ROG.VX) Avastin showed promise in delaying the the progress of brain cancer in newly diagnosed patients when it was added to current standard therapies, according to data from a mid-stage clinical study.

Avastin was recently approved to treat the most common and deadly brain tumors called glioblastoma multiforme once the disease has recurred.

The study, to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Orlando later this month, aimed to show Avastin used along with standard therapy at an early stage of the disease could help keep the cancer from worsening without significantly increasing toxicity.

The 125-patient, Phase II trial tested Avastin in combination with radiation therapy and Schering-Plough Corp's SGP.N Temodar, which are commonly used to treat malignant brain tumors.

The primary goal of the study was improvement in median progression-free survival, or the time it takes for the disease to worsen, in half the patients in the trial.

"When we moved Avastin to the newly diagnosed setting and combined it with radiation and Temodar, we saw a marked improvement in progression-free survival," said Dr James Vredenburgh, professor of medicine at Duke University and the study's principal investigator. "It's exciting preliminary data."