Geneva - The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug Avastin, made by Roche Holding AG, for use against types of advanced brain cancer, the pharmaceutical giant said Wednesday.

The drug was part of an accelerated approval programme that allows provisional approval of medicines for cancer or other life-threatening diseases.

Roche would continue running trials on the drug to continue to observe its effectiveness for people with glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer that is said to affect 10,000 people a year in the United States.

The drugmaker has also filed for approval with the European Medicines Agency.

Avastin is already used for cancer patients with late-stage colon, breast and lung cancers and is one of the company's best-selling medications in this category.

However, last month, the Basel, Switzerland-based Roche said Avastin failed to show a significant reduction in recurrence of colon cancer.