Avastin

[Lily-Anne]

I thought this may be of interest to some of you as Avastin has come up in so many posts now.

roche-images.co.uk/avastin_...

LA

[Whippit]

Hi Lily-Anne, It's a bit scary when you read a drug company's leaflet to health practitioners contains emotive phrases such as, 'More time between chemo means more time being a grandmother' and the imagine of the infant's frog wellie. Are they kicking the traces because there's some question as to the drugs the National Cancer Drug Fund will keep on the list and the price Roche are asking is over NICE's cost per annum for an additional year of life?

It'll be interesting to watch the roll-out if NCDF do take it off, and then offer Roche an opportunity to reprice their drug in order that it can be reconsidered.

I've been taking Avastin since October last year and have 3 more of the 18 maximum doses available on the NCDF. It doesn't tell you this on the NCDF list and I originally thought I'd be taking it until it no longer worked or it caused unacceptable side-effects. My clinician in London told me it is technically possible to put in another application for it but it's unlikely to be granted. I can't quite see the added value of Avastin if women can only have it for 9 months after completing their second line of chemotherapy. My clinician told me there's a tendency for tumours to return quickly after finishing the course - but then that was my clinician in Wales who was trying to put me off asking about it because I live in Cardiff and my health board wouldn't fund it.

Confusing isn't it?

xx Annie

[Anitaalmond]

Thank you Lily-Anne for this info x

[LesleyGreengran]

I have just persuaded my oncology team to keep me on avastin longer - I've had the 18 doses including 6 cycles with carboplatin and gemcitabine and they wanted to stop it. This was for recurrence after over 2 years NED. They conferred and checked the guidelines and said they were unclear but they would let me carry on and hoped they did not get fined. It's taken months and 3 appointments to get to this point.

[Hidden]

We are lucky over here in Ireland, you get Avastin until you get side effects for a maximum of two and a half years. I have been on it now for over twelve months with no great side effects except snuffly nose and possible bum irritation and split nails. BP has stayed ok and everything else fine up to now tg. I dont know if there is any hard and fast rule about it mainly because it is a relatively new tool over here. In general, the oncs are only learning from their patients as the treatment evolves but definitely target therapy is beneficial to some