6 June 2016 - Americans pay the highest prices in the world for cancer drugs, but the treatments are least affordable in lower income countries, according to the results of a new study released on Monday.

The study of cancer drug prices in seven countries, which did not take into account discounts or rebates to list prices, was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

The lowest drug prices were found in India and South Africa. But after calculating price as a percentage of wealth adjusted for the cost of living, cancer drugs appeared to be least affordable in India and China.

Researchers at Rabin Medical Center in Petah-Tikvah, Israel, calculated monthly drug doses for 15 generic and eight brand-name cancer drugs used to treat a wide range of cancer types and stages. List prices in Australia, China, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States were obtained from government websites.

For more details, go to: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-prices-idUSKCN0YS172