Avastin in the Balance

It seems that the deck  and the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee is stacked against Avastin despite the outpouring of patient support for restoring the FDA indication for it's use in advanced breast cancer.   The FDA staffers who are pushing to keep the Avastin ban in place are spinning the issue as one of evidence vs. patient anecdotes.  But the patient anecdotes are based on measurable and measured improvements in survival:

tinyurl.com/3cthlwf

"There seems to be this perception that there are all these kinder, gentler treatments for metastatic breast cancer, but I'm not aware of those treatments, said Dr. Kimberly Blackwell of Duke Cancer Institute.

Blackwell helped conduct the trials of Avastin in breast cancer and believes the FDA is "moving the goal posts" on the drug's effectiveness, which could discourage drugmakers from pursuing new drugs.

"If the label is withdrawn, we will not see a new drug for metastatic breast cancer for another decade," said Blackwell, who directs Duke's breast cancer program.


Watch these discussions of Avastin's use in HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer underscores just how misleading is the claim that there is no scientific evidence to support what patients are saying."

www.ecancermedicalscience.com/tv/video-by-category.asp

tinyurl.com/6b5o8pz

 

For the patient view I commend you to this article by Terry Kelley on how the FDA is deciding whether his wife will live or die..

www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/06/28/fda-panel-is-deciding-life-or-death-for-my-wife/