Mvasi is neither traditional chemotherapy nor immunotherapy. It is a targeted therapy, specifically an angiogenesis inhibitor that works by cutting off the blood supply tumors need to grow. The confusion is understandable because Mvasi is almost always given alongside chemotherapy drugs, so patients frequently encounter it during chemo treatment. But the drug itself works through a completely different mechanism.
How Mvasi Works
Mvasi is a biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab), approved by the FDA in September 2017 as the first biosimilar cancer treatment in the United States. It’s a lab-made antibody that targets a protein called VEGF, which tumors use to signal the body to build new blood vessels. Tumors need a steady blood supply to feed their growth, and VEGF is the key molecule that makes that happen.
Mvasi binds to VEGF and neutralizes it, preventing it from reaching receptors on blood vessel cells. Without that signal, the blood vessels feeding the tumor stop growing. Existing new vessels begin to regress. Research shows the drug both slows the growth of new blood vessel cells (by about 54% in one study) and increases the death of those cells by roughly 36%. The result: the tumor’s blood supply shrinks, starving it of oxygen and nutrients.
Why It’s Not Chemotherapy
Traditional chemotherapy works by attacking rapidly dividing cells throughout the body. It’s sometimes compared to carpet bombing: effective against cancer, but with significant collateral damage to healthy cells in the gut lining, hair follicles, and bone marrow. That’s why chemo causes hair loss, nausea, and drops in blood cell counts.
Mvasi doesn’t kill cancer cells directly at all. Instead, it targets the blood vessel network around the tumor. Because it goes after a specific molecular target rather than all dividing cells, it falls into the category of targeted therapy. You won’t experience the classic chemotherapy side effects like hair loss from Mvasi alone, though you may experience them from the chemotherapy drugs given at the same time.
Why It’s Not Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy drugs like checkpoint inhibitors (nivolumab, pembrolizumab) work by releasing the brakes on your immune system so it can recognize and attack cancer cells. They block proteins that normally keep immune cells in check, essentially unleashing your body’s own defenses against the tumor. Their side effects tend to come from the immune system becoming overactive, causing inflammation in healthy organs.
Mvasi doesn’t interact with the immune system in this way. It targets blood vessel growth, not immune regulation. Both Mvasi and checkpoint inhibitors are technically monoclonal antibodies (lab-made proteins designed to bind specific targets), which adds to the confusion. But what they bind to and what they accomplish in the body are entirely different.
Cancers Mvasi Treats
Mvasi is FDA-approved for a broad range of cancers, almost always in combination with other treatments:
- Metastatic colorectal cancer, combined with chemotherapy as first- or second-line treatment
- Non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, combined with carboplatin and paclitaxel as first-line treatment for advanced disease
- Recurrent glioblastoma (brain cancer) in adults, which is one of the few situations where it can be used on its own
- Metastatic kidney cancer, combined with interferon-alfa
- Cervical cancer (persistent, recurrent, or metastatic), combined with chemotherapy drugs
- Ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, combined with various chemotherapy regimens depending on the stage and whether the cancer is platinum-sensitive or resistant
Why It’s Usually Given with Chemo
For most of these cancers, Mvasi is not used alone. It’s paired with standard chemotherapy because the two approaches complement each other. Chemotherapy attacks cancer cells directly while Mvasi chokes off the tumor’s blood supply. This combination tends to be more effective than either approach alone. For colorectal cancer, common chemo partners include fluorouracil-based regimens, sometimes with irinotecan or oxaliplatin. For lung cancer, it’s typically carboplatin and paclitaxel.
This pairing is the main reason patients wonder whether Mvasi itself is chemotherapy. If you’re receiving Mvasi, you’re likely receiving it in the same infusion session as chemo drugs, all through the same IV line at the cancer center. But pharmacologically, they are distinct treatments doing different jobs.
What Treatment Looks Like
Mvasi is given as an intravenous infusion, not a pill or injection. Your first infusion takes about 90 minutes. If that goes well, the second can be shortened to 60 minutes, and subsequent infusions can drop to 30 minutes. Depending on the type of cancer being treated, infusions are scheduled every two or three weeks.
The side effects of Mvasi reflect its mechanism of targeting blood vessels rather than the typical chemo side effect profile. High blood pressure is common because the drug affects blood vessel function throughout the body. Nosebleeds, slow wound healing, and protein in the urine are also frequently reported. Fatigue, headache, and diarrhea occur as well, though these can overlap with side effects from companion chemo drugs, making it hard to tell which treatment is responsible.
The most serious risks are rare but significant. Mvasi can cause gastrointestinal perforation, a hole or tear in the stomach or bowel wall. Symptoms include severe stomach pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting. The drug can also interfere with wound healing, so surgery needs to be carefully timed around treatment. If you’re scheduled for any procedure, your care team will factor in your Mvasi treatment schedule.
Mvasi vs. Avastin
Mvasi is a biosimilar to Avastin, meaning it was developed to be highly similar to the original drug with no clinically meaningful differences in safety or effectiveness. Think of it the way you’d think of a generic version of a brand-name medication, though biosimilars involve a more complex manufacturing and approval process because they’re made from living cells rather than simple chemical compounds. Mvasi was manufactured by Amgen, while Avastin is made by Genentech. The active ingredient is essentially the same, and they’re approved for the same cancers. Your oncologist may choose one over the other based on availability or cost.