Cancer care should focus on patients rather than commerce: Lancet Comment

Cancer care and innovation should be focused on outcomes that matter to patients rather than the commercial bottom line, say cancer experts in a Comment published in The Lancet Oncology journal.

According to the Comment, industrys control of the research agenda has created a system that is predominantly focused on new cancer medicines at the expense of investigating new approaches to surgery, radiotherapy, palliative care, and prevention.

The authors, consisting of global oncologists and patient advocates, also establish core guidelines for the development of a new patient-centred movement in cancer care – Common Sense Oncology.

They claim that there has been a shift over the past few decades from predominantly publicly funded clinical trials designed to answer questions important to patients, to industry-funded trials which aim to achieve regulatory approval or commercial advantage.

“While many cancer treatments make a real difference in the lives of our patients, there are growing concerns that some new treatments do not help patients live longer or feel better,” said Professor Christopher Booth, from Queens University in Kingston, Canada.

The Comment also highlights how a substantial proportion of industry revenue is used for marketing campaigns aimed at influencing patients, policy-makers, and oncologists irrespective of clinical need.

The authors hope to educate and empower the next generation of oncologists to push the field to do better for patients via three key areas.

These include ensuring clinical trials use and report outcomes that matter to patients, and fostering critical thinking among oncologists to make sound clinical decisions aligned with outcomes that matter to patients Improving patient, public, and policy-maker understanding of cancer treatment options is another area.

“Common Sense Oncology is a global initiative that prioritises people over profits and promotes shared decision-making with patients,” Booth said.

“Our vision is that patients have access to cancer treatments that provide meaningful improvements in outcomes that matter — irrespective of where they live, the researcher added.

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