FUMIKO CHINO: My name is Fumiko Chino and I'm a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. I focus on the treatment of breast cancer and gynecologic cancers. My research focus is on access, affordability, and equity in cancer care. And my important research topic is the financial toxicity of cancer care.
The term “financial toxicity” has evolved to mean the prices borne by patients and the knock-on effects that really impact their lives, their ability to afford treatment, the sacrifices that patients and their families must make, and sometimes the negative consequences in the shape of increased symptom burden, uncontrolled disease, and unfortunately, death. We know that sometimes our patients make incredible sacrifices to afford their treatment. They go bankrupt. They may lose their home. And with a cancer diagnosis can come intergenerational poverty.
We know that the concept of monetary toxicity will not be limited to cancer. There are many health care systems within the United States which are incredibly expensive. We know that folks can't afford their asthma medications. They can't afford their diabetes medications. But my focus has at all times been cancer.
One of the increasingly essential and evolving research themes here at ASCO, the world's leading oncology conference, is the concept of the executive burden that we place on patients. Let's say you've gotten a cancer diagnosis and also you're attempting to manage treatment and uncomfortable side effects while also juggling family and possibly work. But over time, we've found that treatment has change into more complex and dearer, and an increasing number of of those administrative burdens are being placed on patients. That means patients may have to use for short-term or long-term disability advantages. They may have to fill out forms for FMLA. And they might really want to use for his or her prior authorization from insurance.
All of these items are significant because they cause additional stress and anxiety for our patients. And ultimately, when these items don't go as planned, they'll actually create real and measurable barriers to treatment. That can mean a delay in essential cancer treatment. Or it might mean that patients need to forgo treatments altogether. And that may actually result in worse outcomes for our patients. That can mean increased symptom burden and even death. So we've at all times focused on improving outcomes. But the main target now's more on how we are able to actually make life with cancer higher.
FUMIKO CHINO: So I'm at ASCO, the world's leading cancer conference, where 40,000 oncologists and doctors who treat cancer come together. And we're identifying recent and novel treatments for cancer. And which means recent drugs or recent treatment plans, but it surely also means an increasing concentrate on patient-centered care.
So as an alternative of just specializing in drugs, we also need to make sure that that the patient experience, how they tolerate their treatment, how they'll afford the treatment, and that they not only survive cancer but thrive afterward. That's change into a brand new and evolving focus in our field. And I hope that that expands to all features of drugs, not only cancer treatment, that we at all times concentrate on what really makes the patient's life longer and higher.