Cancer patients need more effective, affordable treatment options
Written by Tanvi Kongara; infographics by Emily Zhu
The Burden of Cancer
Cancer takes an enormous toll on our society, healthcare system, and economy. Following diagnosis, the lives of patients and their loved ones are transformed overnight into what seems like a nightmare. Patients have to fight their battle with cancer one day at a time, unsure of whether their treatment will be successful. Caregivers have to adapt their normal activities and distribution of responsibilities to support their loved ones, possibly quitting their jobs and losing their income. The uncertainty, along with the side effects patients may experience from treatment and financial challenges due to the high cost of care, is devastating.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., and the number of cases is growing as populations increase, age, and adopt new lifestyles that increase risk for the disease. In the U.S. alone, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will develop cancer during their lifetime. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 1.8 million new cases diagnosed and more than 600,000 deaths as a result of cancer in 2020 alone. By 2030, the number of cases is projected to increase by 45%, resulting in an additional 800,000 new cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year.
Lack of Effective Cancer Treatments
While there are many successful treatments for cancer today that did not exist even a decade prior, the hunt for a “cure for cancer” still persists. Cancer is not just one disease - it is many different diseases. There are more than a hundred types of malignancies, but cancer is generally characterized by abnormal cell growth and division. Although cancer types are often grouped by location in the body, each cancer case is unique depending on the patient and their tumor. Disease heterogeneity means that a one-size-fits-all treatment solution is not possible.
The lack of effective treatment options for patients with rare or metastatic cancers is devastating. When few people are affected by a disease, pharmaceutical companies are not incentivized to conduct research and develop treatments. Therefore, treatment options for rare cancers are often more limited and less effective compared to common cancers. Yet even for patients with common cancers, cures are very unlikely when the cancer has spread throughout the body. For example, the 5-year survival rate for localized lung cancer is 56% while for metastatic lung cancer it is 5%, reflecting the need for more effective treatment options for late-stage disease.
Lack of Affordable Cancer Treatments
Even when there are effective treatments, many patients struggle to afford them. Cancer drugs costs are rising and unsustainable. They strain household budgets, and in some cases cost more than what people earn. A study done by Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology found that the median monthly listed cost for anti-cancer drugs was $10,000, while the median monthly household income was only $4,300. However, it is not just cancer drugs that are expensive. The Agency for Health Research and Quality estimates that the U.S. spent more than $87.8 billion on cancer-related healthcare costs and that cancer patients in the U.S. spent more than $4 billion on out-of-pocket cancer costs in 2014.
While pharmaceutical companies usually attribute rising drug costs to the high cost of research and development (R&D), a study of 10 cancer drugs discovered that the price of drugs is not representative of the R&D costs. The study found that the median cost of developing a single cancer drug was $648 million, yet the median revenue 4 years after approval for such a drug was $1.65 billion. Drug companies are able to charge premium pricing because they have market exclusivity and there is a high demand for the drugs.
We clearly need new, innovative solutions to make effective treatment options affordable to all.