Some Data from our December 2010 Avastin & Breast Cancer Study

As the FDA ponders Avastin's future, I went back to our December 2010 Breast Cancer study to look at some Avastin results.

We had analyzed close to 2,000 conversations just on Avastin. Overall sentiment for Avastin was positive meaning that there were more conversations in support of Avastin than not.

I can sum up the overall view of Avastin in one sentence; "Avastin is one piece of the puzzle for me" as one patient stated. Conversations included patients, caregivers, nurses, and physicians. All were able to provide stories of patient success. Nurses recount stories of how many patients they did see respond well to Avastin. Patients attributed their long remissions to Avastin. Caregivers felt that their loved ones were either still alive or had more time because of Avastin. And physicians felt that chemotherapy worked better when Avastin was added.

Unfortunately, it seems that physicians and nurse were not able to predict which patients would respond well. And obviously Avastin does not work for everyone.

As we all know, patients and caregivers were outraged when the FDA rescinded its support of Avastin for breast cancer. They still are. They believe that the FDA is choosing death for them. Their anger and fear are powerfully spoken and it is very hard not to be affected. Even many patients that did not respond to Avastin do not want to see the drug unsupported as they feel that all patients should get a chance to see if Avastin works for them.

There are consumers and professionals who look at the clinical data and their own experiences and have come to the conclusion that Avastin is not effective in the treatment of breast cancer. And while there are some patients who feel that Avastin should not keep its approval, breast cancer patients and caregivers are less likely to want to see approval reversed than others.

While the FDA may make their decision on overall collective survival data, patients and caregivers feel strongly that their experience data is important and should be taken into consideration.