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Few
Advanced Colon Cancer Patients worry about
Prescription Drug Costs
Newswise — The vast majority of advanced
colon cancer patients in a clinical trial
were not concerned about the cost of
prescription drugs for managing chemotherapy
side effects, such as infection, pain and
nausea and few adopted strategies to reduce
drug cost burdens after joining the clinical
trial, according to a study led by
researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
in Boston.
Although few patients reported substantial
worry about drug costs, still fewer reported
discussing drug cost issues with their
physicians, suggesting there are
opportunities for improving how physicians
integrate discussions about drug costs into
clinical practice.
"We were reassured to learn that few
patients enrolled in the clinical trial
engaged in coping strategies to minimize the
impact of prescription drug costs, but we
also recognize that these findings may not
generalize to patients treated outside the
clinical trial context," said the study’s
lead author, Deborah Schrag, MD, MPH, of
Dana-Farber.
Schrag added that given the current state of
the economy, with a growing number of people
losing their jobs and possibly some or all
of their insurance coverage, "we could
witness growing anxiety among cancer
patients about their ability to pay for
medications that may help them adhere to
their therapy."
The researchers surveyed 409 patients with
metastatic colorectal cancer who were
enrolled in a Cancer Leukemia Group B (CALGB)
Phase III clinical trial that compared
outcomes of patients who received
combination chemotherapy in conjunction with
bevacizumab and cetuximab together or with
cetuximab alone.
The participants also received prescriptions
for "supportive" drugs, such as anti-nausea
medications, antibiotics and painkillers.
They explored whether financial concerns
prompted the patients to take money-saving
steps that could negatively impact their
care.
They
found that 10 percent of the patients were
very worried about paying for their
supportive medications, less than 15 percent
adopted a money-saving strategy -- such as
not filling a prescription, taking less than
the recommended dose -- and 12 percent of
the patients reported speaking with their
physicians about drug costs.
"The cost of cancer care today does force
patients to make some hard financial
decisions," said Schrag.
"As oncologists, we need to be mindful that
this issue may be a concern for some
patients and that communication about this
topic both may help alleviate anxiety and
identify strategies to minimize the cost
burden."
The study was funded in part by CALGB.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (www.dana-farber.org)
is a principal teaching affiliate of the
Harvard Medical School and is among the
leading cancer research and care centers in
the United States.
It is a founding member of the
Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC),
designated a comprehensive cancer center by
the National Cancer Institute.
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