In results from a widely watched clinical trial, Genentech's Avastin failed to show a significant effect on preventing the occurence of colon cancer, the New York Times reported.

This is the third finding in the past five weeks showing that commonly-believed and oft-practiced cancer treatments and screening processes are actually not beneficial, and in some cases harmful, to cancer patients.

Genentech and its sister company, Roche, did not release any of the specific data from the clinical trial on account that full data will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in late May.

The trial had 2,700 patients who received six months of the standard chemotherapy or six months of the standard chemotherapy plus Avastin. The trial studied how many patients were alive and cancer free after a period of time.

Although Avastin is already a best-selling cancer drug, a successful trial could have paved way for a new use of the drug.

Clinical trials are obviously an important step in understanding the best uses of a drug. However, pharmaceutical companies must ensure that clinical trials are accurate so that the use of a drug is evidence-backed before it becomes a billion dollar drug.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/health/23avastin.html?ref=health