Small-Molecule Price Controls Are Short-Sighted
There’s never been a better time to get lung cancer in the United States.
That may sound morbid. But this deadliest of cancers appears to be losing a bit of its punch. The combination of smoking reduction, increased screening, and pharmaceutical advancements has caused the lung cancer death rate to drop 20% over the past five years, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.
The last leg of that three-legged stool is the most impressive. The Journal highlighted a suite of new treatments that are making strides against lung cancer. AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso “can contain lung cancer nearly three years longer than chemotherapy and radiation alone.” Pfizer’s Lorbrena helps keep 60% of advanced lung cancer patients “alive without their disease advancing at five years,” compared to just 8% of patients who hit that milestone after taking a similar, older drug.
Click to read the full article in Forbes.
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