An analysis conducted by the IMS Health Institute revealed that cancer drug prices have doubled in the past 10 years. Due to a surge in global spending, oncology treatments now average $10,000 per month compared to $5,000 a decade ago.
The growth of global buying for cancer drugs climbed to 5.4 percent annual growth rate in the past five years. It reached $91 billion in 2013, with most of the spending coming from the United States and five of the largest European countries, which makes up about 65 percent of the total market. The U.S. oncology drug market alone went up to 3.5 percent annual growth rate in the last five years and reached $31 billion last year.
In addition, cancer's rising numbers are causing a growth in pharmerging markets, with oncology coming in as the fifth-largest treatment area. Targeted therapies' parts in global cancer drug sales have also increased from 11 percent 10 years ago, to 46 percent in 2013.
United States cancer patients constantly face challenges stemming from out-of-pocket costs, along with other concerns such as care facilities and insurance reimbursements.
"As the cancer patient population mix shifts from mature and developed markets to low- and middle-income countries, oncology is bringing higher levels of uncertainty to health systems across the globe - both in terms of the nature and rate of innovative treatments, and levels of reimbursement for patient care," Murray Aitken, IMS Health senior vice president and executive director of the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, said in a press release.
Patient care has also moved from physician offices to hospital outpatient facilities. This means higher costs and overhead, as reimbursed expenses for hospitals have almost doubled. As a result, patients are taking on less treatment.
"The evidence of patients stopping their therapy due to high out-of-pocket costs is alarming. Fortunately, there are patient assistance programs and other mechanisms available to help patients with this issue," Aitken said during an interview with CBS News.
