12 May 2016 - The PBS spends over A$9 billion a year subsidising a wide range of drugs to ensure affordability for all Australians. But when it comes to rare cancers – such as bone and soft tissue tumours called sarcomas – the scheme falls short.

This happens for a number of reasons. The main one is that rarity means less value for money. But should our new understanding of how cancers develop and could be treated mean we should change the way the scheme registers cancer drugs?

Cancers used to be diagnosed by determining the organ, such as breast or lung, from which they came. Drugs were, and still are, registered by the TGA to use against these cancers if they are effective in clinical trials with acceptable side effects.

Because there are more patients for common cancer trials, and a larger market if the drugs are effective, more drugs to treat these are being tested and therefore registered. Rare cancers are those with an incidence of less than six cases for every 100,000 people. Their rarity means it’s not possible to do the gold standard large randomised controlled trials to determine efficacy.

For more details, go to: http://theconversation.com/unfair-if-rare-should-the-pbs-change-the-way-it-lists-cancer-drugs-59157