Breast cancer narcotic Avastin facing Food and Drug Administration ban
The future of the narcotic Avastin as a breast cancer treatment is currently being mulled by the FDA. The Food and Drug Administration asserts the drug is too costly, has too several dangers and not enough benefits observed in clinical studies to keep approving its use as a treatment in breast cancer patients. Source for this article - FDA mulls future of breast cancer drug Avastin by Newsytype.com.
Regulators say benefits of cancer narcotic are few
The FDA is beginning a series of hearings regarding Genentech's cancer drug Avastin. Genentech is a subsidiary of Roche AG, a Swiss pharmaceutical business. The narcotic is no longer allowed to treat advanced cases of breast cancer, states Fox. This was because the FDS revoked its approval in December 2010. The proceedings, according to CBS, are being picketed by a number of different groups, including women whose lives were saved by the narcotic or are being treated for breast cancer with Avastin and seeing optimistic outcomes. However, the FDA has asserted that its approval was revoked because studies indicate the drug only delays progression of breast cancer for a few months and does not decrease the death rate, according to the Washington Post. There are lots of side effects to Avastin. It can trigger intestinal perforation, high blood pressure, heart attack, blood clots and kidney damage.
Other cancer could get better with it too
Avastin, or bevacizumab, inhibits angiogenesis, according to Wikipedia; it keeps tumors from growing blood vessels. There are several other cancers the drug is also used for. This includes brain, lung, kidney and colon cancers. Ovarian cancer was inhibited in both patients where the cancer was recurring and sufferers where it was newly diagnosed with Avastin treatment, according to a Wall Street Journal article. There was a four month delay in recurring ovarian cancer from Avastin shown in a trial. When taking Avastin, another study showed that women with a greater risk for recurrence had a 36 percent reduction in deaths from cancer in the ovaries while ovarian cancer had a lower death rate overall just barely from the narcotic, reports the LA Times. However, the long-term impact on death rates remains to be seen. Wikipedia reports that a 47 percent survival rate is shown with Ovarian cancer right now.
Financial ties called into question
There may be ties to parent business Roche AG and Genentech. This has made it so the testimony is being questioned, the San Francisco Chronicle states. Those who speak at the Food and Drug Administration hearings for the drugs do not have to say whether or not they were given financial incentives for their promotions at the Food and Drug Administration proceedings of the narcotics. A full course of treatments costs about $88,000 to do while Avastin represented, last year, over $6 billion in Roche sales. The drug has to prove it has greater benefits than dangers although it was approved for the Food and Drug Administration fast-track program in 2008 already. This was just so that it could make it to the market faster if it actually works. Studies that considered the FDA's decision to pull approval showed that the drug merely delayed tumor growth by a few months at best, and did not decrease the death rate overall.
Information from
Fox
foxnews.com/opinion/2011/06/28/fda-panel-is-deciding-life-or-death-for-my-wife/
CBS
cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/28/earlyshow/main20074981.shtml
Washington Post
wapo.st/lq1lok
Wall Street Journal
on.wsj.com/koeP0H
Los Angeles Times
articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/04/news/la-heb-avastin-ovarian-cancer-06042011
Wikipedia on Avastin/Beviacizumab
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevacizumab
Wikipedia on Ovarian Cancer
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovarian_cancer
San Francisco Chronicle
bit.ly/klWKvq
