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FDA revokes approval of Avastin for breast cancer

Avastin can still be prescribed off-label

By Deborah Kotz

 |  Globe Staff  

  November 18, 2011

Thousands of women with advanced breast cancer who are being treated with the drug Avastin may be taken off the drug after the US Food and Drug Adminimstration announced today that is revoking the medication’s approval for treatment of breast cancer. The FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, said she based her decision on studies concluding that the drug has not been shown to be safe or life-extending for women with breast cancer that has spread.

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