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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Are pricey cancer drugs actually extending lives? A new study found that only about half of oral targeted cancer drug prescriptions were for indications with documented survival benefits — yet spending on these medications more than doubled between 2016 and 2020. Researchers are calling for policy reforms across regulators, payers, and prescribers to ensure patients get real value from these costly treatments.
A new analysis of insurance claims data reveals a troubling gap between what cancer patients are being prescribed and what's actually proven to help them live longer. Researchers reviewed data from over 31,000 patients who received nearly 343,000 dispensings of oral targeted anticancer medications (OTAMs) between 2016 and 2021 — and found that only about half of those prescriptions were for indications with label-documented overall survival (OS) benefits.
While the proportion of evidence-backed prescriptions did improve over the study period (from 46.8% in 2016 to 55.6% in 2021), spending on OTAMs more than doubled, raising serious questions about value. Researchers are urging reforms at the FDA, payer, and prescriber levels — including restructuring the accelerated approval pathway to require clearer evidence of meaningful clinical benefit before drugs reach the market.
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Why it matters: With cancer drug list prices often reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars, the stakes are high. When drugs reach the market with limited evidence, patients, payers, and society absorb the risk — financial and clinical. Clearer communication of evidence uncertainty could help align prescribing with proven benefit.
