Avastin.com
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Possible Serious Side Effects
Everyone reacts differently to Avastin therapy. So it’s important to know what the side effects are. Although some people may have a life-threatening side effect, most do not.
Your doctor will stop treatment if any serious side effects occur. Be sure to contact your health care team if you have symptoms related to these side effects.
The most serious side effects (not common, but sometimes fatal):
- Gastrointestinal (GI) perforation. A hole that develops in your stomach or intestine. Symptoms include pain in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, constipation, or fever
- Wounds that don’t heal. A cut made during surgery can be slow to heal or may not fully heal. Avastin should not be used for at least 28 days before or after surgery and until surgical wounds are fully healed
- Serious bleeding. This includes vomiting or coughing up blood; bleeding in the stomach, brain, or spinal cord; and vaginal bleeding. If you recently coughed up blood or had serious bleeding, do not take Avastin
Other possible serious side effects:
- Abnormal passage in the body. This forms from one part of the body to another and can sometimes be fatal
- Stroke or heart problems. These include blood clots, mini-stroke, heart attack, and chest pain. These can sometimes be fatal
- Severe high blood pressure. Blood pressure that severely spikes or shows signs of affecting the brain. Blood pressure should be monitored every 2 to 3 weeks while on Avastin and after stopping treatment
- Nervous system and vision problems. Symptoms include high blood pressure, headache, seizure, sluggishness, confusion, and blindness
- Kidney problems. These may be caused by too much protein in the urine and can sometimes be fatal
- Infusion reactions. These may include difficulty breathing, chest pain, and excessive sweating. Your doctor or nurse will monitor you for signs of infusion reactions
- Fertility issues for women. Avastin could cause a woman’s ovaries to stop working and may impair her ability to have children
Online Privacy Policy
Genentech, Inc. ( Genentech ) respects the privacy of visitors to its websites, and we recognize your need for appropriate protection and management of personally identifiable information you share with us (any information by which you can be identified, including but not limited to, name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number). We have established this Online Privacy Policy so that you are informed about how we treat any personally identifiable information that you provide to us in the course of using this website. This Online Privacy Policy will inform you of:
- How you will be informed of updates to this Online Privacy Policy
- What personally identifiable information of yours we may collect from you through our website
- How we may use your personally identifiable information
- Limits on how we would share and disclose your personally identifiable information
- Our policy regarding links to third-party websites
- Security of our website
- How you can correct and update your personally identifiable information
Please note that the Genentech websites are directed towards users who reside in the United States of America. It is not our intent to gather personally identifiable information from individuals residing outside the U.S.
Online Privacy Policy Updates
From time to time, Genentech may revise this Online Privacy Policy. Any such changes to this Online Privacy Policy will be promptly reflected on this page. Genentech encourages you to review this Online Privacy Policy regularly for any changes. Your continued use of this website will be subject to the then-current Online Privacy Policy. The effective date of this Online Privacy Policy is December 9, 2010.
Information Collection and Use
You can generally visit our website without revealing any personally identifiable information about yourself. However, to access certain options and services we may ask you to provide certain personally identifiable information and without providing such personally identifiable information, you may be unable to access certain options and services. We (along with our third-party partners engaged to provide marketing and advertising on our behalf) collect personally identifiable information about you only if you voluntarily provide it to us and you have the option not to provide any personally identifiable information to us. The following is personally identifiable information that you may voluntarily provide to us and how we use it:
- Surveys. Information obtained from you on web surveys, such as contact information (name and shipping address), demographic information (zip code, age level) and medical condition. We may use this personally identifiable information to provide you with information and services for which you have expressed an interest or that you may find useful based on your answers in a survey. Additionally, we may refer to your personally identifiable information to better understand your needs and how we can improve our website.
- Newsletters. Information obtained from your request to subscribe to a newsletter, such as contact information (name and e-mail address). We may use this personally identifiable information to deliver the newsletters that you have elected to receive.
- Registration. Information obtained from you on registration forms used to process your requests for services and information, such as contact information (name, address, e-mail address), password, username or code, age, date of birth, gender, ethnicity and medical condition. This registration information may also be gathered if you register for certain services via fax or mail. We may use this information to send you a welcoming e- mail to verify your username and password, website updates, special offers, notices regarding relevant medical conditions and treatment, or other information responsive to the data that you provide to us. Additionally, we may refer to your personally identifiable information to better understand your needs and how we can improve our website.
- E-mail Content to a Friend. Information obtained from you regarding friend or family name and e-mail address, if you elect to use our referral service for sending some of our website content to friends and family. This personally identifiable information will be used to automatically send the friend or family member an e- mail from you inviting them to visit the website. We may store this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time e-mail.
Genentech is the owner of all information collected on this website. In addition to the purposes described above, any information we collect may also be used for analytics purposes (eg, evaluating site usage patterns, assessing throughput) so that we can gauge the effectiveness of our programs and improve the usefulness of information presented to users.
Minors
Our websites are not intended for or designed to attract children under the age of 13. Moreover, we do not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18 without the consent of a parent or guardian, and you must be 18 years of age or older to submit registration or survey information. Should you believe that a minor of whom you are a parent or guardian has registered, please contact us at privacy.office@gene.com and we will make reasonable efforts to remove all personally identifiable information related to the minor.
Cookies and GIF Files
Some of our websites may use cookie technology to identify users who have previously visited so the user is recognized upon return, thereby saving them time while on our website. A cookie is a piece of data stored on the users hard drive containing information about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while on our website. If a user rejects the cookie, they may still use our website. A cookie may be placed by us, or by vendors or service agencies who work with us or with our partners.
This website and e-mails we send to you may contain transparent GIF files (also known as web beacons, action tags, or pixel tags ) to help manage online advertising. These GIF files are used by us and our ad management partners to recognize when a visitor views a web page or opens an e-mail. This information enables us to learn which e-mails and advertisements bring users to our website. The information collected and shared with our ad management partners through the use of GIF files is anonymous and is not personally identifiable.
Log Files and Aggregate Information
We may track the total number of visitors to our website, the number of visitors to each page of our website, IP addresses, and the domain names of our users' Internet Service Providers, and we may analyze these data for trends and statistics in the aggregate, but such information will be in aggregate form only and it will not contain personally identifiable data. Such aggregate information is not linked to any personally identifiable information that can identify any individual person.
We may use such aggregate information to analyze trends, administer the website, track users movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. We may share this aggregate information with our corporate partners and contracted vendors to assist us in operating the website and to enable them to better understand Genentechs business.
Sharing and Disclosure
We may provide your personally identifiable information that we collect and the data generated by cookies to a parent, subsidiary or affiliate entity within the Genentech corporate family, partner entities, and the vendors and service agencies that we may engage to assist us. For example, we may provide your personally identifiable information to an organization in order to complete a service (eg, send out newsletter e-mails you have requested), to assist us in reviewing the data or to provide marketing or advertising on our behalf. Any organization to which we provide such personally identifiable information is also required to keep your personally identifiable information confidential in accordance with this Online Privacy Policy. We will also disclose your personally identifiable information to respond to appropriate requests of government agencies or if we reasonably believe we are required to do so by law, regulation or other government authority (such as reporting safety information to the Food and Drug Administration). We will not sell your personally identifiable information to any other company or organization except we may transfer your personally identifiable information to a successor entity upon a merger, consolidation or other corporate reorganization in which Genentech participates or to a purchaser of all or substantially all of Genentechs assets. Such successor entity shall be bound by the terms and conditions of this Online Privacy Policy.
Links to Third-Party Sites
Some of our websites may contain links to other websites on the Internet that are not under the control of or maintained by Genentech. Such links do not constitute an endorsement by Genentech of those other websites, the content displayed therein, or the persons or entities associated therewith. You acknowledge that Genentech is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and you agree that Genentech is not responsible for the content of such websites. Your use of these other linked websites is subject to the respective terms of use and privacy policies located on the linked websites.
Security
Genentech and its third-party providers may employ procedural and technological security measures, consistent with industry practice. Such measures are reasonably designed to protect your personally identifiable information from loss, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. Genentech may use encryption, password protection, secure socket layers, internal restrictions and other security measures to help prevent unauthorized access to your personally identifiable information.
Correcting/Updating Personally Identifiable Information
Genentech is committed to respecting your right to access and correct your personal information. You can call us at 1- 877-GENENTECH and we will be happy to assist you with your request.
You may also "opt-out" of receiving e-mails and other communications from us by using the unsubscribe feature included in the e-mails we send. Contacting Genentech
If you have any questions about this online privacy policy or the information practices of our sites, you may contact us by e-mail at privacy.office@gene.com or by mail at:
1 DNA Way South San Francisco, CA 94080
Privacy Policy last updated: February 3, 2011
What Does Avastin Treat?
Avastin is approved for:
- Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) when started with the first or second intravenous 5-FU–based chemotherapy for metastatic cancer
- Advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in people who have not received chemotherapy for their advanced disease
- Metastatic kidney cancer (mRCC) when used with interferon alfa
- Glioblastoma (GBM) in adult patients whose cancer has progressed after prior treatment. The effectiveness of Avastin in GBM is based on tumor response. Currently, no data have shown whether or not Avastin improves disease-related symptoms or survival in people previously treated for GBM
Possible Serious Side Effects
Everyone reacts differently to Avastin therapy. So it’s important to know what the side effects are. Although some people may have a life-threatening side effect, most do not.
Your doctor will stop treatment if any serious side effects occur. Be sure to contact your health care team if you have symptoms related to these side effects.
The most serious side effects (not common, but sometimes fatal):
- Gastrointestinal (GI) perforation. A hole that develops in your stomach or intestine. Symptoms include pain in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, constipation, or fever
- Wounds that don’t heal. A cut made during surgery can be slow to heal or may not fully heal. Avastin should not be used for at least 28 days before or after surgery and until surgical wounds are fully healed
- Serious bleeding. This includes vomiting or coughing up blood; bleeding in the stomach, brain, or spinal cord; and vaginal bleeding. If you recently coughed up blood or had serious bleeding, do not take Avastin
Other possible serious side effects:
- Abnormal passage in the body. This forms from one part of the body to another and can sometimes be fatal
- Stroke or heart problems. These include blood clots, mini-stroke, heart attack, and chest pain. These can sometimes be fatal
- Severe high blood pressure. Blood pressure that severely spikes or shows signs of affecting the brain. Blood pressure should be monitored every 2 to 3 weeks while on Avastin and after stopping treatment
- Nervous system and vision problems. Symptoms include high blood pressure, headache, seizure, sluggishness, confusion, and blindness
- Kidney problems. These may be caused by too much protein in the urine and can sometimes be fatal
- Infusion reactions. These may include difficulty breathing, chest pain, and excessive sweating. Your doctor or nurse will monitor you for signs of infusion reactions
- Fertility issues for women. Avastin could cause a woman’s ovaries to stop working and may impair her ability to have children
Additional Safety Information
The most common side effects of Avastin are:
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Avastin is not right for everyone. Talk to your doctor if you:
- Are pregnant, may be pregnant, or are breast-feeding. Avastin may harm the fetus or a child that is nursing. If you stop Avastin, you should keep using birth control for at least 6 months after your last dose before trying to become pregnant
- Are undergoing surgery. Don’t take Avastin for at least 28 days before or after surgery and until surgical wounds are fully healed
If you have any questions about your condition or treatment, talk to your doctor.
Please see full Product Information, including Serious Side Effects, for additional important safety information.
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