[Sustainability and new anticancer drugs]

Abstract

Economic problems have been reported ever more frequently to affect the chance of cancer treatment, and financial toxicity has become a relevant issue in many countries, including the United States. Data are lacking for Europe, but the impressive cost of all new anticancer drugs is challenging European countries like Italy, where public health systems are based on solidarity and equity of access. The increasing cost of the new drugs cannot be justified by their efficacy, because the size of their benefit is frequently marginal and may have little clinical impact. In Europe, new strategies in the management of regulatory matters are required that take into consideration economic issues as one of the main aspect to establish the value of the new anticancer drugs.