Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — Federal health scientists said Friday that follow-up studies of a Roche breast-cancer drug showed that it failed to extend patients’ lives, opening the door for it to be potentially withdrawn from use in treating that disease.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Roche’s blockbuster Avastin in 2008 based on a trial showing it slowed growth of tumors caused by breast cancer. Avastin’s so-called accelerated approval was based on the condition that later studies would show a survival benefit.
