Avastin when added to regular chemotherapy prolonged the time that patient had before ovarian cancer progressed, a new clinical trial study says.

The study involved 361 women who were not responding to treatments with chemotherapy. The trial was done to evaluate the effects of Avastin plus standard chemotherapy versus only chemotherapy.

The first group that received chemo plus Avastin showed a delay of 6.7 months for the disease to progress while the chemo-only group showed a delay by 3.4 months.

Also, 75 percent of women on chemo plus Avastin had recurrence of the cancer compared to almost 90 percent of women who were on chemo alone, Reuter's reports.

"Most women with advanced ovarian cancer will experience disease progression after treatment, and almost all of them will at some stage of the disease have cancer that is resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy which severely limits treatment options. Adding Avastin to chemotherapy for women with advanced ovarian cancer in this study reduced this risk of cancer progression by half," said Dr. Hal Barron, chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development in a statement.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that each year about 20,000 women in the U.S. get ovarian cancer. It is the eighth most common cancer in the U.S.

Ovarian cancer usually occurs in women over 40 years of age. Treatment is most effective if the cancer is detected earlier, says CDC.

Food and Drug Administration had issued a press release on November 18, 201 announcing that FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg is revoking the agency’s accelerated approval of the breast cancer indication for Avastin (bevacizumab), manufactured by Genentech.

Avastin is manufactured by Roche's Greentech unit. The drug prevents tumor growth by shutting off blood vessels that feed the tumor, reports FOX 4 News.