http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1847545984

Access to new oncology drugs in Canada compared with the United States and Europe

Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada. The numbers of new cases of breast, colorectal, ovarian, prostate, and kidney cancer, and leukemia and lymphoma have changed little over the last 20 years. Moreover, the five-year survival rates for lung and ovarian cancer have remained more or less the same over the last two decades and those for breast, colorectal, and kidney cancer and lymphoma have shown only modest progress. Consequently, new, better treatments are needed as soon as they can be introduced. Unfortunately, the timeliness of the review and approval of new drugs for use in Canada in comparison with other industrialized countries has been a concern to patients and physicians for many years. The number of these oncology drugs approved in Canada and the time taken for their review are examined in this report.

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