{"id":1404,"date":"2023-02-28T16:48:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T16:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/?p=1404"},"modified":"2023-02-28T16:48:56","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T16:48:56","slug":"the-high-cost-of-cancer-care-in-the-u-s-doesnt-improve-survival-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/?p=1404","title":{"rendered":"The High Cost of Cancer Care in the U.S. Doesn\u2019t Improve Survival Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

lthough the United States spends twice as much on cancer care as the average high-income country, the rate of cancer deaths are only slightly better than average, according to a study published in study published in JAMA Health Forum<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been well established that U.S. healthcare is expensive, and that patients living in the United States tend to have earlier access to new cancer therapies. But whether that spending has translated into fewer cancer deaths has been unclear, says senior author Cary Gross, MD<\/a>, professor of medicine and founder and director of Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe most recent studies comparing cancers costs with outcomes at the national level are over a decade old,\u201d says Dr. Gross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s important, in part, because there have been many significant advancements in cancer treatment in the last 10 years, including a new type of immunotherapy that can make changes to a patient\u2019s T cells (a type of immune cell) to better fight cancer, according to American Cancer Society (ACS)<\/a>. Those breakthrough treatments can come at significant cost \u2014 in some cases, upward of one million dollars per patient, according to the Lown Institute<\/a>, a nonpartisan think tank dedicated to improving America\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cancer Is Second Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although the risk of dying from cancer has been dropping since its peak in 1991, it\u2019s still the second most common cause of death in the United States, after heart disease, according to the ACS<\/a>. In 2022, it\u2019s estimated that 1.9 million people will be diagnosed with cancer, and 609,360 will die from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lung cancer<\/a> is the leading cause of cancer<\/a> death in the United States, followed by colon and rectum cancer, pancreatic cancer<\/a>, breast cancer, prostate<\/a> and liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Had the Highest Cancer Care Spending Rate Compared With Other Countries<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To find out whether or not the considerable U.S. investment on cancer care leads to better outcomes, researchers performed a nation-level analysis of 22 high-income countries and compared how much each country spent on cancer care relative to the age-standardized cancer death rates in 2020, with and without adjusting for smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key findings included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n