Escalating costs of cancer treatments are threatening access to high-quality care. This economic trend comes at a time of unprecedented opportunity for translational research, but an alarmingly low level of patient participation in clinical trials. Patients' concerns about costs are a barrier to trial enrolment, and addressing these concerns is a moral and practical imperative if we are to accelerate progress against cancer.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Meropol, N. J. The imperative to address the cost of oncology care. J. Natl Cancer Inst. 23, 1771–1772 (2013).
Meropol, N. J. et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology Guidance Statement: the cost of cancer care. J. Clin. Oncol. 27, 3868–3874 (2009).
Al-Refaie, W. B. et al. Cancer trials versus the real world in the United States. Ann. Surg. 254, 438–443 (2011).
Nipp, R. D. et al. Financial burden of cancer clinical trial participation and the impact of a cancer care equity program. Oncologist 21, 467–474 (2016).
Meropol, N. J. et al. Randomized trial of a web-based intervention to address barriers to clinical trials. J. Clin. Oncol. 34, 469–478 (2016).
Wong, Y.-N. et al. Financial concerns about participation in clinical trials among patients with cancer. J. Clin. Oncol. 34, 479–487 (2016).
Unger, J. M. et al. Patient income level and cancer clinical trial participation. J. Clin. Oncol. 31, 536–542 (2013).
Unger, J. M. et al. Impact of the year 2000 medicare policy change on older patient enrollment to cancer clinical trials. J. Clin. Oncol. 24, 141–144 (2006).
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. The Affordable Care Act (ACA): About the law. US Department of Health & Human Services, http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-law/ (2016).
Wagner, J. L. et al. Incremental costs of enrolling cancer patients in clinical trials: a population-based study. J. Natl Cancer Inst. 91, 847–853 (1999).
Acknowledgements
Neal J. Meropol wishes to acknowledge the excellent editorial assistance of Lizabeth Lukesic.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
N.J.M receives research funding from Genomic Health, and is a member of the Board of Directors (unpaid) of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Research and Education Foundation, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meropol, N. Overcoming cost barriers to clinical trial participation. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 13, 333–334 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2016.72
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2016.72
