Since immunotherapy is transforming cancer treatment in the oncology worldThe only factor staggering to patients and the healthcare system’s cost in India as a whole. As we all know that certain forms of cancer might trick the immune system mimicking healthy cells and can hide for several years.
But for this notorious play of cancer cells immunotherapy is exploited to stimulate the immune system and attack cancer cells.
Immunotherapy is short of a miracle for cancer patients but is also impacting healthcare Value and Cost in India for Cancer Treatments
A class of drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors is of more interest these days. For same researchers have been trying to develop these drugs for 30 years.
A decade ago, antibodies to treat HER2-positive breast cancer i.e. the very aggressive form of breast cancer were developed successfully. A drug called Herceptin came along & dramatically improved the cure rate for HER2-positive breast cancer. FDA-approved drugs that work through this kind of pathway are about 4 in number. Malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), kidney, bladder, and head and neck cancers can all be treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Immunotherapy is fairly well-tolerated unlike chemotherapy and radiation, immunotherapy leaves healthy cells unscathed.
Also combining immunotherapies with other cancer treatments offer promise, but is still a complicated issue.
The problem of cost is staggering over these benefits as immunotherapy cost in india is expensive.
These treatments cost over $100,000 per year and in the case of Combine drugs and it’s over $200,000 per year. It is identified who will benefit and who won’t, it will make a big difference in cost for patients. Immunotherapy is often covered by health insurance nowadays, but patients have to deal with rising out-of-pocket costs. “ Price of these drugs, cost-effectiveness analysis is a necessary component of future research,”
Also Read:
Which cancers are treated with immunotherapy? Types of immunotherapy used to treat cancer.
