Delivering maximum clinical benefit at an affordable price: engaging stakeholders in cancer care

Abstract

Cancer costs continue to increase alarmingly despite much debate about how they can be reduced. The oncology community needs to take greater responsibility for our own practice patterns, especially when using expensive tests and treatments with marginal value: we cannot continue to accept novel therapeutics with very small benefits for exorbitant prices. Patients, payers, and pharmaceutical communities should be constructively engaged to communicate medically and economically possible goals, and eventually, to reduce use and costs. Diagnostic tests and treatments should have to show true value to be added to existing protocols. In this article, we discuss three key drivers of costs: end-of-life care patterns, medical imaging, and drugs. We propose health-care models that have the potential to decrease costs and discuss solutions to maintain clinical benefit at an affordable price.