Maria Babak: How Bevacizumab is revolutionizing treatment for multiple cancers
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“Discover how Bevacizumab, a powerful cancer drug, is revolutionizing treatment for multiple cancers by inhibiting blood vessel growth essential for tumors. However, the rise of counterfeit versions, especially in war-affected regions, poses a serious threat to patient safety and underscores the urgent need for effective detection methods.”
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“Bevacizumab: A Lifesaving Cancer Treatment.
Bevacizumab, known by the brand name Avastin, is a targeted cancer drug designed to inhibit the development of blood vessels, which is essential for tumor growth, effectively treating various cancer types.
Bevacizumab is used to treat metastatic breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma (brain cancer), renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a signal protein that promotes angiogenesis. Bevacizumab inhibits VEGF to prevent new blood vessel formation. Both normal and tumor cells contain VEGF, with tumor cells having elevated levels due to their need for more oxygen to grow.
Recent studies have shown that patients diagnosed with cervical cancer and treated with Bevacizumab+chemotherapy had a 16.8-month median survival rate, compared to 12.9 months for patients with only chemotherapy treatment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identified that at least 19 medical facilities had obtained the counterfeit drug Bevacizumab. The counterfeit medicines lacked pharmaceutical ingredients and contained irrelevant materials such as cornstarch, salt, and acetone. Tracking of counterfeit Bevacizumab is complicated, making it difficult to determine the origin of the fake drug.
The detection of counterfeit Bevacizumab highlights international issues, especially in war-affected regions that threaten public health. Urgent development of detection of counterfeit Bevacizumab is needed to protect cancer patients in danger.”
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Dr. Maria (Masha) Babak is the Head of The Babak Lab and an Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong. She earned her Ph.D. in bioinorganic chemistry from the University of Vienna in 2014. From 2015 to 2020, Dr. Babak was a postdoctoral research fellow at the National University of Singapore under the mentorship of Prof. Wee Han Ang, where she developed a strong passion for drug discovery and drug target identification.
In November 2020, she joined the City University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor. Dr. Babak received the Graeme Hanson-AsBIC Early Career Award in 2022.
Her research interests are at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and medicine, with a focus on the discovery and preclinical development of anticancer drugs for resistant and aggressive cancers with limited treatment options, such as malignant pleural mesothelioma and brain metastases.