Rochester, MN - Every year more than 21,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with brain cancer.

Unfortunately, many of those people will die within a year of diagnosis.

But Mayo Clinic doctors are hopeful that a chemotherapy drug approved to fight other types of cancer, may help people with brain cancer live longer, fuller lives.

Mayo doctors say a chemotherapy drug called Bevacizumab, which is FDA approved for lung and colon cancer, has reduced brain tumors of patients to the point where you can't see it on an MRI.

Tumor growth depends on blood flow from nearby vessels.

These vessels grow into the tumor after receiving a signal from the tumor.

The medication blocks the signal from attaching to receptors on the blood vessels.

Without the signals to grow, the tumor can shrink.

The medication is still under study, and isn't right for all patients with brain cancer.

For more information go to www.mayoclinic.org.