Cancer Decisions - Free Newsletter

HERE AT THE MOSS REPORTS

We are dedicated to bringing our readers and clients the latest and most interesting developments in the field of cancer research and treatment.

The Moss Reports is a comprehensive series of detailed individual reports on more than 200 different kinds of cancer. Each of these diagnosis-specific reports analyzes the current available treatments, both conventional and alternative, and offers the cancer patient a clear-eyed, truthful assessment of the available options. If you would like to purchase a Moss Report for yourself or someone you love, you can do so securely from our Web site (www.cancerdecisions.com), or by calling 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US).

PHONE CONSULTATIONS

I also offer phone consultations to clients who have bought a Moss Report. A phone consultation can be enormously helpful in drawing up a treatment strategy and getting one's options clearly prioritized. A client offered the following comment:

"I want to express my thanks to Dr. Moss for the telephone consultation. I had done a fair amount of research before our conversation and had received advice about the treatments the oncologists felt I needed. The oncologists did not take into consideration my specific case, so it was so good to discuss my situation with Dr. Moss and receive advice and information I believe is not biased toward any specific treatment. It was so helpful and I have no doubts about the course I have chosen. Thank you so much." - S. F.

To schedule an appointment for a phone consultation, please email: Jacquie@cancerdecisions.com, or call 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US).

We look forward to helping you.

CURRENT TOPICS

A question that comes up very frequently in phone consultations with my clients is the issue of whether or not it is safe to take antioxidants while undergoing standard cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation.

While there is mounting evidence to suggest that antioxidants are both safe and effective in counteracting the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, by and large the oncology profession tends to recommend strongly against the use of such supportive measures, citing concerns that antioxidants may interfere with the cancer-killing ability of standard treatments.

I have written an investigative report on this controversial subject, exposing the flaws in the arguments so often leveled against the use of antioxidants during cancer therapy. The report - Do Antioxidants and Chemotherapy Conflict? - is available for download from the Cancer Decisions web site: www.cancerdecisions.com.

This report is one of our Current Topics series - a growing list of in-depth analyses that focus on issues of importance to all who are interested in cancer prevention and treatment. Choose from the following titles:

On Guard - Gardasil (A discussion of the anti-cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil)
Do Antioxidants and Chemotherapy Conflict?
Mammography, Biopsy and the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
Herceptin or Deceptin? (An evaluation of the use of Herceptin in breast cancer)
Avastin: Your Money Or Your Life. (A clear-eyed look at the targeted drug Avastin)
The Politics of Hope: Andrew von Eschenbach and the Decline of the National Cancer Institute
The Mexican Cancer Clinics in the Era of Evidence-Based Medicine

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DR. VON ESCHENBACH -- DO NOT OVERRIDE YOUR OWN ADVISORS!

Last week, the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted 5-4 to recommend against approving the drug Avastin for first-line use in advanced breast cancer. In clinical trials to date, Avastin has not been shown to extend overall survival or to improve quality of life for women with metastatic breast cancer.

Traditionally, FDA has required that new drug approvals should only be granted on the basis of clear evidence of patient benefit. But lately the agency has lowered its standards and has begun to approve drugs based on clinical trials that use surrogate endpoints such as "disease-free interval" and "time to progression" instead of the much more clinically meaningful measure of overall survival. The main beneficiaries of this change in the standard of approval have been big pharmaceutical companies, not cancer patients.

The ODAC is mainly made up of cancer doctors, but does include a few non-physicians, at least one of whom was instrumental in the vote against approving Avastin.

"Absolutely it's a very painful reality that metastatic breast cancer is not curable," said Natalie Compagni Portis, a patient representative on the committee, who voted against approval. But, she added, "I don't think that means that we should just say, ‘Well, here, try this,' if there isn't meaningful data to support it." (New York Times, Dec. 6, 2007).

I congratulate ODAC for recommending against granting a new indication for a drug that has not been proven to work in this patient population. And I especially congratulate Breast Cancer Action, the San Francisco-based activist organization, which led the campaign to educate ODAC members and the public about this issue.

Readers should be aware, however, that this might not be the end of the story. ODAC, as its name implies, is only an advisory committee, and Genentech executives have indicated that they still hope to get around the ODAC decision.

According to the Times, Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Genentech's president for product development, said the company might ask the FDA for conditional approval on the promise of later providing survival data from two other clinical trials that are now under way (ibid.).

The final decision is now in the hands of Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D., the FDA commissioner, and his deputy, Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the division of oncology drugs. They can still overrule ODAC's recommendation.

As a concerned citizen, you have a right to express your opinion on this matter. I am therefore calling on readers to send a brief email to Dr. von Eschenbach and Dr. Pazdur asking them to listen to their own advisory panel and not to approve the ineffective drug, Avastin, for advanced breast cancer.

Their email addresses are as follows:

andrew.voneschenbach@fda.hhs.gov

richard.pazdur@fda.hhs.gov

If enough of us write in, this will hopefully influence FDA to put the needs of cancer patients above those of the drug companies, and only to approve drugs that are of actual benefit to cancer patients.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

Disclosure: Ralph Moss serves on the scientific advisory board of Breast Cancer Action.

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

The news and other items in this newsletter are intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.