The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cyramza for stomach cancer, according to a press release issued on Apr. 21, 2014. The drug is used to treat patients with advanced stomach cancer as well as gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, a type of cancer in the location where the esophagus meets the stomach.

Stomach cancer mainly affects older adults, and it forms in the tissues that line the stomach. Statistics from the National Cancer Institute indicate that over 20,000 Americans will be diagnosed with stomach cancer, and nearly 11,000 will die from the disease this year.

Cyramza is an angiogenesis inhibitor that prevents blood supply to the tumors. The drug is designed for patients whose cancer isn’t able to be surgically removed, or that has spread after treatment with a fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing therapy.

Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the official press release, “Although the rates of stomach cancer in the United States have decreased over the past 40 years, patients require new treatment options, particularly when they no longer respond to other therapies.” He continued, “Cyramza is new treatment option that has demonstrated an ability to extend patients’ lives and slow tumor growth.”

The safety and effectiveness of the drug was monitored in a clinical trial of 355 patients whose cancer is inoperable or that has spread. Two-thirds of the participants were given Cyramza while the rest of the patients were given a placebo. The trial measured the amount of time patients lived before death, or their overall survival rate. Patients who took Cyramza had a median survival rate of 5.2 months, compared to 3.8 months in those who received the placebo drug.