Avastin

kayandok
kayandok Member Posts: 1,202 Member
in Ovarian Cancer #1
Hi gals, can someone explan to me what it means specifcally for the ovarian cancer gals that avastin has been pulled by the FDA? Does that only affect those on medicade and medicare? I am a bit confused.

More specifically, those of you that have an ovca dx, and on avastin now and your insurance it covering it, will that continue? And those that want to use it in the future with ovca, is it going to be much harder to get insurance approval, or impossible?

Thanks,
kathleen

Comments

  • kellyh33
    kellyh33 Member Posts: 287
    #2
    Avastin
    I believe it is still available for other types of cancers it is no longer approved for women with advanced breast cancer. The experts are saying the side effects far outweigh any advantage the drug may have in fighting end stage breast cancer.
  • pjdreams
    pjdreams Member Posts: 77
    #3
    Avastin still available for other cancers
    the FDA pulled their approval for Avastin for breast cancer only. it's still approved for other cancers including ovarian. breast cancer patients can still get it but insurance companies won't pay for it anymore. I've been on bi-weekly infusions since June and each infusion costs $13,000. it seems to have stabilized the progression of my many tumors and kept my CA125 in the normal range for the first time in 1year. The FDA's action really makes you wonder about the side effects of this drug....why is not Ok for breast, but not the other types that do have approval ?
  • LaundryQueen
    LaundryQueen Member Posts: 676
    #4
    pjdreams said:

    Avastin still available for other cancers
    the FDA pulled their approval for Avastin for breast cancer only. it's still approved for other cancers including ovarian. breast cancer patients can still get it but insurance companies won't pay for it anymore. I've been on bi-weekly infusions since June and each infusion costs $13,000. it seems to have stabilized the progression of my many tumors and kept my CA125 in the normal range for the first time in 1year. The FDA's action really makes you wonder about the side effects of this drug....why is not Ok for breast, but not the other types that do have approval ?

    FDA
    The FDA "fast tracked" the approval on Avastin for metastatic breast cancer before all of the results were in from the clinical studies. From what I could learn online, Avastin did not increase overall survival for women with stage IV breast cancer so the FDA revoked its approval as the risks outweighed the possible benefit.

    At this time, I think the Avastin results have been more promising for ovarian cancer patients. I think it is considered to be an "off label" use (the Avastin website does not say it is approved for ovarian cancer). Therefore, insurance companies may refuse to pay for Avastin. My insurance company only pays for "standard of care treatment" and that would not include Avastin unless it WAS FDA approved.
  • Tethys41
    Tethys41 Member Posts: 1,382 Member
    #5
    Side Effects
    PJ,
    I think the reasoning is that the FDA does not feel the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks for breast cancer patients. In other words, the results for breast cancer patients is not measurable, therefore they do not think it is worth the risk for breast cancer patients to take it. In other cancers, however, they are seeing positive results, therefore, at this point, they believe that the benefits are worth the risk. I don't believe that Avastin has officially been approved by the FDA for use in ovarian cancer, but they have not said it should NOT be used.
  • clamryn
    clamryn Member Posts: 508
    #6
    Avastin
    When this first came up a while back, I ask my doctor would I still be able to take it since they were considering taking it off the market. He said that they were only not approving for breast cancer and that I could still take it.
    I have said on here once before that I took Avastin and I am not a big fan of it. It definitely did not work for me. It did at first but then it stopped working and the tumors increased in size. So the doctor stopped it on me.
    The two big side effects are: high blood pressure and perforation of the bowels. They had a lot of trouble getting my blood pressure under control while I was on it.

    Linda
  • kayandok
    kayandok Member Posts: 1,202 Member
    #7
    clamryn said:

    Avastin
    When this first came up a while back, I ask my doctor would I still be able to take it since they were considering taking it off the market. He said that they were only not approving for breast cancer and that I could still take it.
    I have said on here once before that I took Avastin and I am not a big fan of it. It definitely did not work for me. It did at first but then it stopped working and the tumors increased in size. So the doctor stopped it on me.
    The two big side effects are: high blood pressure and perforation of the bowels. They had a lot of trouble getting my blood pressure under control while I was on it.

    Linda

    Linda,
    have you ever had your VEGF tested? The test that indicates whether you are a good candidate for avastin type drugs or not.
    k
  • kayandok
    kayandok Member Posts: 1,202 Member
    #8
    pjdreams said:

    Avastin still available for other cancers
    the FDA pulled their approval for Avastin for breast cancer only. it's still approved for other cancers including ovarian. breast cancer patients can still get it but insurance companies won't pay for it anymore. I've been on bi-weekly infusions since June and each infusion costs $13,000. it seems to have stabilized the progression of my many tumors and kept my CA125 in the normal range for the first time in 1year. The FDA's action really makes you wonder about the side effects of this drug....why is not Ok for breast, but not the other types that do have approval ?

    PJ,
    so glad t hear the avastin has been working for you. And I am interested to hear about the cost. It makes sense to me why the "bottom dollar" (no profit) cost is $4,500 a pop for avastin. I was under the impression that the FDA hadn't approved ovca it for avastin yet, it was pending on the trial results, but different ones, like you were using it off label. So, my question for you is, can you continue to use it and get your insurance to cover? Does pulling avastin for breast cancer affect you immediately?

    I think the study results for breast cancer, say the risk is hgher (some people actually die from the side effects of bleeding) than the benefits. That is not to say that some women with breast cancer do great with it, and have glorious results, like yourself. My understanding is that the final results from the avastin trials for ovarian are not yet completed. So, many of the ovca gals have been able to use avastin because of a trial or some how 'off label'. Once all the studies are in, then I hope it will show there is more benefit than risk for ovca and it will become standard treatment.

    I am also wondering if this decision for breast cancer will force Genetech (I think that is the correct spelling) to reduce the cost of using avastin, so more people (with other cancers including ovca) can use it. Either that, or the generic people will step up to the plate and start making this stuff. I just don't know how all that works.

    As a side note, I found out tht the bottom dollar cost of cisplatin is only $80. THat is cost, and anything that is charged over and above that is profit. It is because it has been around forever. Compare that to the bottom dollar cost for avastin ($4500)! CRazy!

    kathleen

    PS I really miss LInda! I know she would be totally on top of all this research stuff. It is, frankly a boggle to me to sift through it all! Sorry, that was out of the blue!!!
  • clamryn
    clamryn Member Posts: 508
    #9
    kayandok said:

    Linda,
    have you ever had your VEGF tested? The test that indicates whether you are a good candidate for avastin type drugs or not.
    k

    No I have not
    I have never had that done. What I have read about Avastin is that it works better with a chemo agent and I took it alone. My insurance carrier wouldn't approve of both Avastin and a chemo agent together (too much money). My doctor wanted to give me at the time Gemzar and Avastin. So when the insurance company balked, my doctor put me on the Avastin. So I might have done better if I would have done both together. It did work at first but then it quit working. To me it was an easy drug to take ... except for my blood pressure.

    Linda
  • clamryn
    clamryn Member Posts: 508
    #10
    kayandok said:

    PJ,
    so glad t hear the avastin has been working for you. And I am interested to hear about the cost. It makes sense to me why the "bottom dollar" (no profit) cost is $4,500 a pop for avastin. I was under the impression that the FDA hadn't approved ovca it for avastin yet, it was pending on the trial results, but different ones, like you were using it off label. So, my question for you is, can you continue to use it and get your insurance to cover? Does pulling avastin for breast cancer affect you immediately?

    I think the study results for breast cancer, say the risk is hgher (some people actually die from the side effects of bleeding) than the benefits. That is not to say that some women with breast cancer do great with it, and have glorious results, like yourself. My understanding is that the final results from the avastin trials for ovarian are not yet completed. So, many of the ovca gals have been able to use avastin because of a trial or some how 'off label'. Once all the studies are in, then I hope it will show there is more benefit than risk for ovca and it will become standard treatment.

    I am also wondering if this decision for breast cancer will force Genetech (I think that is the correct spelling) to reduce the cost of using avastin, so more people (with other cancers including ovca) can use it. Either that, or the generic people will step up to the plate and start making this stuff. I just don't know how all that works.

    As a side note, I found out tht the bottom dollar cost of cisplatin is only $80. THat is cost, and anything that is charged over and above that is profit. It is because it has been around forever. Compare that to the bottom dollar cost for avastin ($4500)! CRazy!

    kathleen

    PS I really miss LInda! I know she would be totally on top of all this research stuff. It is, frankly a boggle to me to sift through it all! Sorry, that was out of the blue!!!

    Miss Linda
    I really miss Linda too. It has been really hard for me to come back to the board. I keep looking for her like she is going to answer a question for someone. It just makes me so sad. She told me she would help me all she could on the last leg of my journey and I know she will be in my heart but it has been really hard. I feel so bad for her family. It just happened all too quickly.

    Linda
  • Cafewoman53
    Cafewoman53 Member Posts: 735 Member
    #11
    clamryn said:

    No I have not
    I have never had that done. What I have read about Avastin is that it works better with a chemo agent and I took it alone. My insurance carrier wouldn't approve of both Avastin and a chemo agent together (too much money). My doctor wanted to give me at the time Gemzar and Avastin. So when the insurance company balked, my doctor put me on the Avastin. So I might have done better if I would have done both together. It did work at first but then it quit working. To me it was an easy drug to take ... except for my blood pressure.

    Linda

    wow
    That drives me crazy that insurance companys can override what the dr wants to do ! I also took Avastin and not sure if it did me any good.
    Colleen

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