A recent study of patients with colon cancer that had spread to distant sites found that many were treated with costly chemotherapy that is not considered effective, according to a report by Endo Nurse.
The study, presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology's annual meeting, scrutinized patients on three chemotherapy regimens that were not supported by evidence from prior clinical studies or clinical practice guidelines.
The drugs were bevacizumab, costing $1.3 million per patient, capecitabine, costing more than $600,000, and panitumumab, costing almost $70,000. As costs of cancer care continue to mount, researchers predicted there will be increasing pressure to base treatment decisions on solid clinical evidence.
Read the Endo Nurse report on colon cancer.
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