Hi there - has anyone had Avastin for ovarian cancer?

I was diagnosed with stage 3/4 ovarian cancer January 2025. I’ve completed 6 rounds of Paclitaxel and Carboplatin (21 day cycle) had debulk op end of July and now on secondary chemo 3wks on 1wk off Paclitaxel only until April. They told me the CT scan post op shows nodules along the scar line. My ca125 wasn’t particularly high to begin with at 79 but after the op dropped to 12 then began creeping back up to 44. Also, I have a permanent chest drain in my left lung now due to the fluid build up caused by the cancer cells.

I’m feeling disappointed I was not offered a drug called Avastin to control the fluid to begin with. I’ve been told now I’m on secondary palliative treatment I’m not eligible for this under the NICE guidelines.

I also feel disempowered as I’d much rather have had a PET scan after the CT scan to confirm it’s cancer and not scar tissue. CT scans are not as accurate. 

I would be interested to hear if anyone else here would like to share their experience of ovarian cancer. Has anyone been accepted the drug Avastin? 

My oncologist told me I can go private for this drug but it’s expensive. I can not afford to go private. I’m toying with the idea of using unconventional cheap drugs like benzo and methotrexate as they have shown to kill cancer cells in animal trials. 

  • Welcome to the forum SJM08 although I'm very sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and that you're not eligible for avastin due to being on secondary palliative treatment. This must be very frustrating.

    We know it can be very tempting to try anything as a possible last resort, but using unconventional drugs can be very dangerous as they have not been tested in the same way as conventional cancer treatment. There is also no scientific evidence to prove that any type of alternative therapy can help to control or cure a cancer.

    Some alternative therapies can interact with current medications and cause harmful side effects as well, so we would recommend talking to your oncologist about this before making any decisions. 

    I'm not sure from your post if you have tried getting a second opinion, but I hope this information I've included will help if that is something you'd like to look in to. Also, methotrexate is a cancer drug so you could discuss its suitability with your oncologist, but they may feel they’re making the best decision in the circumstances.

    Hopefully some of our members will share their experiences of avastin with you soon, but if you'd like to discuss your situation further with one of our cancer nurses, you can give them a call on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday (except tomorrow as it's New Year's Day) between 9a.m - 5p.m. They're very easy to talk to and will do all they can to address your questions and concerns.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • My late wife who is no longer around was offered Avastin (also known as Bevacizumab) was given this immunotherapy drug where she had started having it at the start of her chemotherapy treatment in March 2024 for ovarian cancer and was supposed to continue having it for 18 cycle every 3 weeks. She was offered this via the cancer drugs fund but each does was about £1.8k a go and had kept her CA125 levels down at 9 for about 6 months until her oncology doctors had taken her off of it, not because she had side effects of it but had refused to cooperate with the medical staff. The drug allegedly blocks the VEGF protein that the active cancer cells release to enhance the blood supply to the cancer growth by capturing the protein. Eventually, the cancer cells die off as they are starved of nutrients and hence cannot multiply. She had this and it had shrunk if not completely eradicated all the tumours that were identified so it had worked. Avastin does work in stopping the cancer from returning whilst taking it but the oncology doctors work out how long a patient needs to take it such that the cancer is under control and then can be managed with tablet orientated drugs like PARP inhibitors. This comes with a caveat that my late wife did not cooperate with the doctors treating her and did ultimately withdraw her treatment. I do not know the reason why but think that it was due to her refusing to address her deteriorating mental health.