Napoleone Ferrara Genentech Fellow: Tumor Biology and Angiogenesis Profile | Avastin Involvement | Education/Background | Top Scientific Papers | Awards & Honors

Italian physician Napoleone Ferrara came to the United States in 1983 to study endocrinology after completing his residency at the University of Catania Medical School in Italy. He planned to return to his native country after a few years, but the research that led to Avastin® (bevacizumab) changed those plans.

In 1988, Genentech hired Dr. Ferrara, a young researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, to work on relaxin, a hormone thought to be involved in the functioning of the human reproductive system. Under a Genentech policy that allows scientists to develop their own research interests, Dr. Ferrara labored during off-hours to research a pet interest of his: the potential role anti-angiogenesis may play in cancer treatment.

In 1989, Dr. Ferrara and his team of scientists at Genentech made a groundbreaking discovery that opened doors to our understanding and treatment of cancer. This discovery was the identification and cloning of a gene for vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, a protein that plays a critical role in angiogenesis — a process fundamental to cancer growth and metastasis by which tumors signal for the blood supply that they need to grow. In 1993, Dr. Ferrara demonstrated that an antibody directed at VEGF could suppress angiogenesis and tumor growth in preclinical models. Clinical studies with a humanized version of the antibody, Avastin, began in 1997.

In June 2003, Genentech unveiled positive results from a pivotal Phase III clinical trial of Avastin plus 5-FU-based chemotherapy in first-line metastatic colorectal cancer that far surpassed the expectations of experts and represented one of the bigger advances in cancer treatment in years. Today, Avastin is an FDA-approved targeted therapy to be used in combination with intravenous 5-FU-based chemotherapy. It is also approved in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Dr. Ferrara hopes Avastin is just the start of further research into VEGF inhibition. He continues to research other roles VEGF may play in the treatment of other types of cancer, ocular disease and tissue repair.