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Articles on Cancer drugs

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The US National Cancer Institute tested tens of thousands of plants and made this miraculous find. Het Spul/Flickr

Weekly dose: Taxol, the anticancer drug discovered in the bark of a tree

The US National Cancer Institute screened 35,000 plants, but one particular sample collected from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree provided what is now one of the most highly prescribed cancer drugs.
The PBAC must make tough decisions about which cancer drugs to subsidise. Eric Gaillard/Reuters

New cancer drugs are very expensive - here’s how we work out value for our money

Most of us would agree that cancer drugs should be listed on the PBS, no matter how dear. But our health system can’t afford all of them. How then are decisions about which drugs to subsidise made?
A group of oncologists have called on cancer patients to challenge the high prices charged by pharmaceutical companies for new cancer drugs. ep_jhu/Flickr

If we don’t talk about value, cancer drugs will become terminal for health systems

Hope, fear, and desperation, along with the unique characteristics of the cancer drug market, create a “perfect storm” that continues to drive up prices for cancer drugs.
Cancer cell to stem cells: the drugs are coming. delgrossodotcom

Cancer uses stem cells as a shield to escape drug attacks

Chemotherapy is one of the most important treatments for all types of cancer. It involves the use of drugs that kill abnormally multiplying cells. The therapy uses one or more drugs in combination and…
Cancer targets young and old. National Cancer Institute

EU loophole means children with cancer are denied drugs

In spite of a major drive to develop targeted drugs to “personalise” cancer treatments, children with cancer still have to put up with drugs that have remained largely unchanged for decades. Currently…
Clinical trials are experimental human research studies designed to test the effectiveness of new drugs, surgical procedures or therapeutic devices. Nestlé/Flickr

Clinical trials are useful – here’s how we can ensure they stay so

From the time the Scottish physician James Lind showed citrus cured scurvy in 1747, clinical trials have had a reputation for being gold-standard evidence about the safety and effectiveness of medical…
Several factors, including if the effects of the medicine are worth its cost, help decide whether a drug is subsidised by the government. Tetiana Yurchenko/Shutterstock

Why some drugs are publicly subsidised and others are not

Decisions whether to publicly fund new drugs or not are often tough. Should the government fund a drug that has promising early results or wait until its effects and safety issues are better understood…

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