Bevacizumab for advanced breast cancer: Hope, hype, and hundreds of headlines.

Abstract

e11597 Background: On February 22, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in metastatic breast cancer. Based on the results of subsequent clinical trials this accelerated approval was revoked on November 18, 2011.In this study we categorize and analyze the newspaper reports related to bevacizumab use in advanced breast cancer. Methods: Using the FACTIVA media database, we reviewed all newspaper reports published in the United States and Canada from January 4,2002 to January 4, 2012 with the words “breast cancer” and “Avastin” or “bevacizumab”. Articles were classified as pre-approval (Jan 4 2002 – Feb 21 2012); approval (Feb 22 2008 – Nov 17 2011); or post-approval loss (Nov 18 2011 – Jan 4 2012). Information related to benefits, side effects, costs, interviewees, and article tone and theme were abstracted from each article by two independent reviewers. Differences between the 3 study phases were compared using the Chi square test. Results: 353 articles met our study inclusion criteria. The major article themes evolved over each study period. Reports having a positive headline tone (36%, 18%, 9%; p=0.0004) and/or positive article tone (42%, 19%, 9%; p<0.0001) declined with each study period. The proportion of articles discussing side effects (25%, 49%, 60%; p<0.0001) and financial costs (19%, 46%, 41%; p<0.0001) increased while those discussing efficacy decreased (82%, 59%, 15%; p<0.0001) with each study period. Drug representatives were most likely to be quoted in newspaper articles prior to bevacizumab’s approval (33%, 23%, 11%; p=0.015). Conclusions: Media reports are a common source of medical information for patients, practitioners, and policy-makers. Although we cannot discern cause from effect, we did observe substantial fluidity of media reports over time.