Researchers Say Cancer Drug Should Get FDA "Black Box" Warning
(Undated) -- A new biotech drug that zaps cancer by choking its blood supply also increases the risk of dangerous clots. "USA Today" says that 12-percent of patients who take Avastin developed blood clots in their veins. It's a rate 30-percent higher than among other cancer patients. That's the finding in a new study out of New York's Stoney Brook University, where researchers screened 15 separate drug trials of nearly eight-thousand patients. They're calling on the Food and Drug Administration to give Avastin its sternest consumer warning, called a "black box" warning. A spokeswoman for Avastin's maker, Genentech, says their label already carries a stiff caution. The company says clots are a common problem with cancer patients and can be treated with blood-thinning medications. Avastin works by destroying the blood vessels that feed tumors. |