Cancer Drug Approval & Efficacy - Half of approved cancer drugs lack proof of extending survival for any approved uses [1][15] - The FDA's accelerated approval process, used heavily for cancer drugs in the last 20 years, relies on preliminary data like tumor shrinkage or progression-free survival, which may not accurately predict actual survival [13][14] - There's growing recognition that some cancer treatments may not be as helpful as expected, potentially reducing quality of life without extending lifespan [12] Pharmaceutical Industry & Financial Incentives - The pharmaceutical industry's primary motive is generating profits, potentially leading to pressure to expedite clinical trials and approve medicines on uncertain evidence [2][9] - Lower dosages of drugs could mean less revenue for pharmaceutical companies [3][25] - The median initial price of cancer drugs in the US has quadrupled over the last two decades, without a proven correlation to improved survival [26] Cost & Accessibility of Cancer Treatment - High treatment costs can significantly affect patients and their families [2][19] - Doctors in countries like India are experimenting with lower doses of cancer drugs due to affordability issues, where treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year [16] - Lower dosing of just one drug could save $825 million per year in the US alone [22] - Implementing lower dosages can face pushback from manufacturers due to reduced revenue [24][25] Alternative Treatment & Research - A clinical trial in India showed that low-dose immunotherapy combined with standard treatment more than doubled the percentage of head and neck cancer patients alive after one year [20] - Using 25% less drug can achieve the same output and save significant healthcare resources [25] - Lower dose immunotherapy could allow access to life-extending drugs for a large segment of the world that currently cannot afford them, potentially saving billions of dollars and benefiting hundreds of thousands of people [21][27]

Thousands of Medicare recipients will have to wait longer to get some price relief on the expensive cancer drugs they depend on for treatment, while others might not get any reprieve at all https://t.co/h0gqhuTqPB ...