The AMG706 is a chemotherapy trial for mets patients for whom cisplatin
is indicated.  This would not generally be the case for breast cancer
patients, bc is not an indicating condition on the prescribing sheet,
and I think it would only be considered if all other chemotherapy
options had been tried and failed.  It has terrible side effects.  It is
generally indicated for testicular and ovarian cancers.

There are two trials around AMG162.  This is a bone-strengthening drug
being proposed as an alternative to bisphosphonates such as Zometa.

The first of these is the double-blind study of AMG162 versus placebo
you mention.  This is for non-mets patients on aromatase inhibitors,
looking at use of the drug to combat osteoporosis.  So as a mets patient
she is not qualified for this trial either

The other is "AMG 162 in Biphosphonate Naive Metastatic Breast Cancer",
for which she would appear to be eligible.  The drug is used here to
reduce the symptoms of bone mets (pain or fracture).  This is a
dose-finding study and does not involve placebo.  Opting in or out is
unlikely to have any effect on the progression of cancer, this trial is
about improving symptom control.

In a research study, you have to be randomly assigned and blinded to the
drug as the participant for the overall research to be of the
appropriate quality to learn about the treatment through clinical trial.
From the researchers point of view, hopefully they will help you, but
more importantly (for them) they will definitely help a lot of people in
the long run. Most companies have a compassionate use option when you
have reached the end of your treatment rope, as it were. I would expect
that with recent pharmaceutical bad press (ex, Tsybari) drug companies
would be even more cautious about allowing someone to take a non-FDA
approved protocol off of a research study.

So, learn as much as you can about what the particular study is and what
it will get you before deciding. I am sure that a quick call to your
oncologist will get you the protocol number. Also, I am sure that there
is a research coordinator at the research site who can answer your
questions. I have spoken to research coordinators in the past and they
have been very informative. It is in their best interest to have you and
your wife as informed as humanly possible before deciding to be in their
study.

Good luck,

Chris