Oncologists Skipping Expensive Cancer Drugs That Offer Little Or No Benefit
Meanwhile, news outlets report on other cancer care developments like the impact of life-expectancy questions on patients and what elephant genes could teach researchers about fighting the disease.
Reuters:
Cancer Doctors Drop Pricey Drugs With Little Effect
U.S. oncologists, aware that patients are paying more of the costs of expensive cancer drugs, are increasingly declining to prescribe medicines that have scant or no effect, even as a last resort. At least half a dozen drugs, including colon cancer treatments Cyramza, from Eli Lilly & Co, and Stivarga, sold by Bayer AG, aren't worth prices that can exceed $100,000 a year, top cancer specialists said in interviews with Reuters. (Beasley, 10/8)
Reuters:
Discussing Life Expectancy Gives Advanced Cancer Patients Realistic View
When doctors discuss prognosis with advanced cancer patients, those patients have more realistic views of their life expectancy and don’t seem to experience a decrease in emotional wellbeing, according to a new study. “That the vast majority of cancer patients who are dying say that they want to know their prognosis seems surprisingly courageous,” said senior author Holly G. Prigerson of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. (Doyle, 10/8)
Los Angeles Times:
What Elephants Can Teach Scientists About Fighting Cancer In Humans
You've heard that elephants never forget, but did you know they almost never get cancer either? It turns out just 4.8% of known elephant deaths are related to cancer. For humans, cancer-related deaths are much higher — between 11% and 25%, scientists say. The low cancer rate among elephants is particularly intriguing because all things being equal, elephants should get more cancer than we do. (Netburn, 10/8)
