NCI researchers say cancer drugs prices are not related to efficacy

A National Cancer Institute found that the annual treatment price for new cancer drugs is not correlated with the benefits seen in clinical trials.

The study, published in the April 2 Journal of the American Medical Association, analyzed 51 cancer drugs that were approved in the U.S. from 2009-13, including line extensions; and the efficacy data used to support the drug applications, including response rate, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The group then compared the efficacy data to the annual treatment costs of the drugs and found no significant relationship between percentage improvement in PFS or OS and treatment costs (PFS, p=0.10; OS, p=0.09). ...