The American Society of Clinical Oncology unveiled its framework for assessing cancer drugs earlier this summer, breaking new ground in helping doctors size up competing treatments. Now, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network is going a few steps farther.As Reuters reports, the NCCN will offer a tool to compare various drugs by their costs, benefits and side effects, in an effort to steer demand away from costly drugs that do little to improve patients’ survival.An alliance of 26 top U.S. cancer treatment centers, the NCCN already publishes influential treatment guidelines that advise doctors on treatment, taking into account disease stage, patients’ underlying health, and cancer type. The idea is to add the new cost-effectiveness tool into this mix, first on the NCCN website and in print–and eventually, within healthcare IT systems used by hospitals, the news service notes.
Source: Powerful cancer alliance joins cost-effectiveness drug crusade – FiercePharma