With cancer affecting 1 in every two people in the world, the need for more targeted treatments is essential. But the developing of these treatments are a costly expense, with some single courses of treatment running into hundreds of thousands of dollars and the total estimated costs of all cancer treatment by 2020 is around $150 billion dollars.
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics claim there are more than 500 companies that are currently working to develop cancer treating drugs, so it is a big business. These companies are work around the clock to try and make more targeted drugs to help save the lives of those diagnosed with terminal cancer.
When determining the best way to treat a patient, doctors need to look at all the factors before reaching their decision, which is not always an easy thing to do. If a treatment plan is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars but will only prolong the patient’s life by a couple of weeks maximum, then is this really worth it?
Keytruda is a drug that is often issued to treat cancer patients, and does have a success rate of around 30% but comes with a hefty price tag with some treatments costing over $100,000. To try and obtain better results, scientists are conducting tests to combine up to three different immunotherapies simultaneously.
So, this could be the solution for cancer treatment, but what the cost implications of combining these immunotherapies are yet to be seen. Further tests are needed to ensure the right combination, if any, is needed and in what circumstance and trials will continue for some time.
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