New cancer drugs saved over 1.2 million people in the US over 16 years, new study shows

(KYMA, KECY) - More than 1.2 million people in the US prevented facing death following a cancer diagnosis, between the year 2000 and 2016, thanks to ever improving treatment options - a large new national study shows.

Published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Economics, the new findings highlight how new drugs commissioned during this period to target the 15 most common cancer types helped to reduce mortality by 24% per 100,000 people in the States.

The study, carried out by experts at PRECISIONheor and Pfizer, also show that 106 new treatments were approved across these 15 most common tumours - including colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia, melanoma, gastric cancer, and renal cancer.

These new cancer drug approvals were associated with significant decreases in deaths - as measured by treatment stocks. In 2016 alone, the team estimate that new treatments were associated with 156,749 fewer cancer deaths for the 15 most common tumor types.