FDA may revoke approval of Avastin for advanced breast cancer

The US Food and Drug Administration may be toying with the idea of taking the highly unusual step of rescinding approval of a drug that patients with advanced breast cancer turn to as a last-ditch hope.

Avastin has been prescribed to about 17,500 women suffering from breast cancer annually. The drug came under controversy after the political struggle over medical spending and effectiveness which began during the battle over a health-care reform:  How should the government balance protecting patients and controlling costs without restricting access to cutting-edge, and often costly, treatments?

The FDA is still reviewing the recommendation of influential scientific advisers to revoke authorization of the drug to treat meta-static breast cancer.

The new studies counter the previous research and indicate that the benefits of the drug which costs $8,000 a month do not outweigh its risks, as per the advisory panel.

The patient advocates and others are welcoming the prospect that Avastin’s approval for breast cancer might be revoked. Many cancer experts cited a lack of the evidence of the drug’s effectiveness, its potential toxic side effects, and its high cost.