Burden of Cancer Treatment

Dear Colleagues,

With the development of various high-priced oncology drugs, such as cancer immunotherapy, the financial burden of cancer drugs raises concerns in many countries. However, their prices are frequently confidential, and various complicated policies, such as risk sharing agreements, forbid discussions at the domestic or international level. Further, although some cancer drugs have their generic versions including biosimilars, which could ameliorate the fiscal stress, their use varies greatly from country to country. 

Moreover, with the aging population, the aggressive use of cancer treatment in the end-of life stage is prevalent, yet the “rational” use of end-of-life treatment is controversial.

Therefore, there is an imminent need to compare the utilization of cancer treatment internationally as well as domestically based on quantitative (using panel data to compare utilization of cancer treatment based on disease status or demographic characteristics or comparing prices and volumes of drugs internationally) or qualitative (such as focused group interviews among various stakeholders) assessments. 

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) highlights end-of-life care and cancer drugs. New research papers, reviews, case reports and conference papers are welcome to this issue. Other manuscript types accepted include methodological papers, position papers, brief reports and commentaries.

Dr. SeungJin Bae
Guest Editor

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