Cancer care burden: aiming at the Achilles heel.

Cancer is the one of the major causes of death worldwide. More than 16 million new cancer cases are expected by 2020, and it is estimated that cancer will then be the cause of more than 10 million deaths per year1. Cancer has become the leading cause of death in Canada. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, 40% of men and 45% of women are expected to develop cancer during their lifetime2. With recent advances in cancer management and research, the outcomes of cancer patients—specifically in developed countries—have improved. However, since the early 2000s, the cost of cancer care has exponentially gone up. Cancer care encompasses a wide range of costs—including financial, social, and psychological burdens—that are difficult to estimate. The worldwide cost of cancer attributable to premature death and disability (not including direct medical costs) has been estimated to be US$895 billion3. Mounting rates of new cancers, drugs used in cancer care, high-cost innovations and technologies, overutilization of care and futile disease-directed care, and financial hardship for the patients and families are equally contributing to the cancer care burden.