Skip to Content

Avastin – When Science and Emotion Collide

Avastin – When Science and Emotion Collide

The recent controversy leading up to and resulting from the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee’s decision to withdraw its approval of Roche/Genentech’s drug Avastin for the treatment of some advanced breast cancers, seems to me, to be a perfect example of what sometimes happens when science and emotion collide.

And as so often is the case in collisions, the real victims are innocent people, in this case women with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer.

First some very basic background.

In February 2008, the FDA granted accelerated approval for the use of Avastin in treating certain advanced breast cancers. Since then it’s primarily been used in combination with paclitaxel (commonly used chemotherapy drug) for the treatment of advanced HER2-negative breast cancer.

This accelerated approval was in and of itself not without controversy. Dissenters claimed insufficient data existed to properly establish that benefits outweighed the risks.

Wasn’t this an immediate red flag?

Avastin’s use for the treatment of certain advanced breast cancers none-the-less moved forward offering hope to patients with few options remaining on the table for them.

Notably, Avastin is one of the most expensive and widely marketed cancer drugs in the world, bringing in around $6 billion annually. Roche stands to lose $1 billion of this figure if sales of Avastin for breast cancer treatment are suspended.

Avastin is the trade name for Bevacizumab and is generally given to a patient to stop or slow tumor growth by preventing formation of new blood vessels which feed the tumor. It also inhibits the function of a natural protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or  VEGF-A, which stimulates new blood vessel growth as well as healing and repairing of the vascular system. Avastin has been used to treat other metastasized cancers such as colon and lung since 2004 when it was first approved.

This leads us to one of the greatest problems/side effects of Avastin, that being interference with normal function of blood vessels. Inhibiting  growth is good in regard to tumors, but not when it inhibits normal growth and maintenance of blood vessels throughout the body. This can lead to coronary heart disease as well as a host of other problems.

Other adverse side effects include hypertension, heightened risk of bleeding and bowel and nasal perforation to name a few.

Some such side effects have been extreme, even resulting in death.

Another issue with Avastin is the data has been inconclusive as to what exactly is benefiting the patient, the Taxol or the Avastin.

Does the Avastin boost Taxol’s effectiveness?

Who cares about any of this you might ask, especially if you are a woman living with stage IV HER2-negative breast cancer and presently taking Avastin?

What do you do when you have no other options?

This is where the recent emotional testimonies came into play. Women pleaded, some with tearful testimony, trying to make the case for keeping Avastin an option for them. Heartbreaking stories were told; stories from real women, stories about life, death and few other options.

This is where separating painful testimonial and scientific fact becomes excruciatingly difficult.

The main fact coming into play in this case was that Genentech/Roche was unable to prove patients’ overall survival (OS) or quality of life improved, not just progression-free survival (PFS), meaning tumor growth was slowed. 

Admittedly, this part bothers me. Should short-term PFS be enough?

Apparently, weighing this fact and others, together with the serious potentially deadly side effects, was enough for the FDA to withdraw its approval for Avastin.

Shouldn’t the FDA know what’s best? I sure hope so.

The manner in which all of this has been handled makes me skeptical, but ultimately, I do support this decision. I have to side with science. 

In my opinion, there is also potential danger here in parading patients around, who may or may not be in a vulnerable state of mind, in front of the media to promote a position. I think there is danger of patient exploitation here. It’s a fine line.

A couple of important points seem to be missing from the recent conversations. One being that a patient and his or her doctor can still opt to use Avastin regardless of the ruling. Also, Medicare has said it will continue covering the cost, at least for the time being, for women already on the drug.

These are important points, because no matter what, the final decision regarding continuing to use Avastin or not must be made on an individual basis by the patient and her doctor.

But, what about the women who want to continue on Avastin and are not on Medicare? Will insurance companies continue to cover this cost? Again, I’m skeptical, although with pressure being put on them to do so, they may be forced to. I hope so.

How long will sorting all this out take? 

Many patients taking Avastin don’t have the luxury of having lots of time to spare.

I don’t think this controversy is ending any time soon. The final decision will be made by FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD, who as I understand it, can support or reject the committee’s recommendation.

In my opinion, this whole process of getting a new drug to the patient needs improvement, including better accountability, so this kind of fiasco doesn’t happen when a new drug comes down the pipeline.

We need more and better research, including more and better designed clinical trials. We need heavier emphasis on safety and the development of treatments with less debilitating side effects.

We need more and better everything for women with metastatic breast cancer.

We need to do better.

Cancer patients deserve better.

We all deserve better.

Have you taken Avastin, or do you know someone who has?

How much weight, if any, should patient testimonial have in making such decisions?

Should insurance companies continue covering the costs for women already taking Avastin and opting to continue?

 

Bonnie Sanders

Friday 21st of July 2023

What u describe, Nancy, is a nightmare of pain in order to stay alive. Much has been said about a cure already; but then big pharma wouln’t make billions of dollars. I would like to follow a holistic route; however, insurance does not recognize as official treatment. I’m at a cross-roads now and the Lord has intervened and given other health issues . Nothing else matters when your heart spews problems. Right now I’m enduring the parade of BP drugs with all their side effects. Most mornings I’m ok until I start taking my drugs. When I’m not nauseous; I’m extremely hungry. Most of cancer pill side effects; I’m having now, with BP pills. Cant take any of the poison pills until these current meds are straightened out. Keep smiling, though. Positive attitude is what we need. Thankyou Nancy, for all you’ve shared. My road ahead looks long. Yet my God will make that decision!

melody

Monday 19th of October 2015

Thank you. I hope so. I have no idea what to do. Its like she has no rights.

melody

Saturday 3rd of October 2015

Hello Has anyone experienced any severe side effects from Avastin? My mother did, so im trying to find out is there anyone else or has a family member that has experienced any severe side effects. My mother was totally independent and now she is 24/7 dependent.

Nancy

Monday 5th of October 2015

Melody, Hope you get some answers. I'm sorry about your mother.

Elizabeth Whittington, curetoday.com

Tuesday 26th of July 2011

Great post, Nancy. Thanks for sharing. I especially enjoyed reading all the thoughtful comments. I, too, am interested in the FDA commissioner's decision. With how the hearing went down, I am certainly led to believe she will rule against Avastin. The FDA has surprised us before, though. Elizabeth

CancerCultureChronicles

Monday 18th of July 2011

If Avastin really is a miracle drug that is safe enough to be launched on the WIDER breast cancer population, then Genetech should be chomping at the bit to continue to study the women who are currently on the drug and should also be wiling to foot the bill. $100k/year for the number of women who are actually experiencing a response to a drug combination which includes Avastin, is small potatoes compared to the billions Genetech stands to lose with the FDA withdrawing approval. Extending financial coverage to these patients seems like good business sense to me. Keep the patients on the drug with their informed consent, study them and collect the evidence and resubmit for approval.

Nancy

Monday 18th of July 2011

Anna, Thank you for sharing your thoughts here. I totally agree. Genentech would benefit in the long run for sure if they did what you suggest and I think it sounds quite reasonable. Huge amounts of dollars are at stake for them. I hope someone is looking into this angle before the FDA reaches its final conclusion.