From the Associated Press:
Federal health authorities are recommending the blockbuster drug Avastin no longer be used to treat breast cancer, saying recent studies failed to show the drugs original promise to help slow the disease.
The Food and Drug Administrations decision is supported by many cancer experts but is sure to draw resistance from cancer patients and some doctors who fiercely defend the drug and say it should remain available.
The FDA approved Avastin for breast cancer in 2008 based on studies suggesting it halted the spread of breast cancer for more than five months. But follow-up studies showed that delay lasted no more than three months, and patients suffered dangerous side effects.
Doctors will still be able to prescribe the drug off-label, though some insurers may not pay for it.
That last bit gives you the real story. This was about cost-cutting, not medical efficacy as weve repeatedly shown. Ironically, at about the same time the FDA was making its decision, the EU ruled to continue recommending Avastin. So, for breast cancer patients, there is more choice in Europe than the US.