[Health care expenditures linked to the use of targeted therapies and diagnostic tests for cancer patients]

Abstract

Recent advances in cancer research have led to the development of very expensive new drugs for cancer treatment: the targeted therapies. However, the introduction of these new therapeutic agents which costs are increasing could threaten the diffusion of these innovations. It is thus necessary to determine whether the use of targeted therapies yields clinical benefits that justify their increasing cost. The development of companion diagnosis tests to target drugs and thus to select those patients most likely to benefit from the treatment may provide a useful means of containing the progress of health care expenditures and improve the cost/benefit ratio. In this paper, we present current estimates of health care expenditures linked to the use of targeted therapies for cancer care. We also discuss some of the issues related to the regulatory decisions (pricing and reimbursement) concerning the test/drug couple.