In 2012, a total of 1.1 billion euros was spent on all medicines in hospitals. A quarter of the costs came from cancer medication. In 2021, 2.6 billion euros were spent on all medicines. No less than two-thirds of that amount was for cancer medication. “It shows how gigantic it is and how many more patients have been added who need cancer care,” says NOS health editor Sander Zurhake in Nieuws en Co.
Life extension
The IKNL now wants a discussion about the proportion of medicines that are used for people who cannot get better. Expensive medicines do not always ensure that people can live longer. “There are some cancers where people are living longer. Breast cancer, prostate cancer and skin cancer are showing really good progress,” Zurhake says. “But many other cancers, such as stomach cancer, kidney cancer and pancreatic cancer, are all very much lagging behind.”
Cancer medication is now used as ‘one size fits all’, says Zurhake. “While every person is unique. Whether or not it works depends very much on your genetic makeup, which is why many of those expensive treatments are often pointless in a certain sense.”
Personalized
According to Zurhake, the IKNL now wants to look more specifically at whether a medicine can prolong the life of a patient. “There are already examples that through research you can determine whether or not a medicine is a good fit for someone.” But these studies are not yet available for all types of cancer. “That is what they are also calling for. That the pharmaceutical industry, but also scientists and doctors, join forces to move in that direction.”
Discussion
Carin Louis of the Dutch Federation of Cancer Patient Organizations (NFK) also thinks it is important to discuss this. “It clearly illustrates the problems we face. We are still not able to give all people with metastatic cancer a better chance of survival or at least a small extension of survival.”
Louis also advocates that more research be done into the effect of medication on certain types of cancer. “We actually grant all cancer patients with metastatic cancer the opportunity for better treatment. This must be done with more research and better cooperation.”
2023-10-03 17:23:11
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