Avastin gets unfavorable decision for cancer

A board of cancer professionals determined Wed the cancer drug Avastin should no longer be authorized by the FDA for breast cancer patients. The panel claimed it was ineffective and had unsafe side effects. The Food and Drug Administration will make a final decision in July. Source for this article – A panel recommends disapproving breast cancer drug by Newsytype.com.

Subsequent time looking at it

A board of cancer professionals determined Wed the cancer drug Avastin should no longer be authorized by the FDA for breast cancer patients. The panel claimed it was ineffective and had unsafe side effects. The Food and Drug Administration will make a final decision in July. Source for this article – A panel recommends disapproving breast cancer drug by Newsytype.com.

Subsequent time looking at it

This is the subsequent time a board has ruled negatively on the cancer narcotic. The group agreed that Avastin was not worth it last December. They said that cancer patients' lives wouldn't be improved or extended. A subsequent hearing was prompted by demonstrations from Roche.

In 2008, the FDA approved Avastin for breast cancer treatment. This was because it showed that it could slow cancer tumors for over five months with chemotherapy. But further studies have shown the benefit was closer to three months and the drug did not extend the life of the patient. High blood pressure, internal bleeding, holes in the stomach and other extreme side effects have been shown to occur in the narcotic.
 

Survivors were able to give testimony of it

Breast cancer survivors were there for Roche on top of the expert opinion. Roche had Survivor Patricia Howard said "I am alive today due to Avastin." "I am alive today due to Avastin," was what Patricia Howard said. She was the survivor.

Terry Kelley is the husband of a cancer patient. "Make no mistake, this hearing is a death trial, not of Avastin but of these women who rely on Avastin to say alive," he said. "You are each personally responsible for the consequences of your own vote."

The panel unanimously voted 6-0 to get to the same opinion. Natalie Compagni-Portis, a member of the panel, said, "I think all of us wanted Avastin to succeed, but the reality is that these studies did not bear out that hope."</p>

Some angry
 

After the decision was handed down, the room exploded with unfavorable reactions from the drug's supporters. Christi Turnage, of Madison, Miss., who claims her cancer has been undetectable in the two years since she has been taking the narcotic, shouted, "What do you need us to take? We have nothing else!"

It was called a kangaroo court by Steven Walker who is a spokesman for the Abigail Alliance patient advocacy group. "There wasn't one dissenting thoughts up there, let alone one dissenting vote," he said.

Not finalized yet

After July 28, FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg will have the final say as the panel's decision may not be binding. Brain, kidney and colon cancers can all still use Avastin FDA approved. Even if it isn't approved, it can still be used for cancer treatments although the narcotic may not be covered by insurance businesses for probably the most part.

Information from:

Huffington Post
huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/28/avastin-breast-cancer-patients_n_886217.html

CNBC
cnbc.com/id/43582047

Forbes
forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/29/health-health-care-us-breast-cancer-drug-fda_8541968.html