Genentech Inc. on Monday said its colon cancer drug Avastin extended the life of patients when used in combination with a chemotherapy regimen called FOLFOX4 more than the chemotherapy alone in a late stage clinical trial.

An interim analysis of the data showed patients taking the combination lived 12.5 months, compared to 10.7 months for those not getting the Genentech drug as a treatment. All patients in the trial had cancer that had spread to other parts of the body and had failed previous treatment.

Avastin in February was approved as a first-line treatment for the same type of colon cancer for use with another widely used chemotherapy regimen known as 5-FU. It prolonged life of patients by five months in those trials.