US cancer network recommending expensive drugs based on weak evidence, study finds

[Judi Lynn]

Study raises concerns about National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which publishes guidelines for American oncologists

Jessica Glenza in New York

@JessicaGlenza
Wed 7 Mar 2018 18.30 EST

Guidelines for American oncologists often recommend expensive and harmful cancer drugs for patients based on “weak evidence”, according to a new study in the British Medical Journal.

The BMJ research looked at drugs recommended for conditions not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, a practice called “off-label” prescribing.

Off-label prescribing, or using a drug for purposes that may be well known but not approved by a regulatory agency, is common, especially in oncology. But recently approved cancer drugs can cost and have severe side-effects.

“They’re not your grandpa’s old cytoplasmic drugs,” said Vinay Prasad, an oncologist at the Oregon Health and Sciences University, referring to early cancer drugs. “They are $100,000 drugs. They bring $1bn per year to the drugmakers.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/07/us-cancer-guidelines-study-british-medical-journal