'Immunotherapy yields 11 000 extra life years for Belgian cancer patients. But with a price tag'

Read the full articles (in Dutch) in 'Het Laatste Nieuws' (part1 and part2) and De Morgen (June 29, 2018).
With explanation amongst others by prof. Lieven Annemans, professor in health economics at UGent and affiliated with CRIG

Since a few years, immunotherapy is applied in Belgium to treat aggressive cancers such as lung cancer or melanoma. The results are sometimes amazing, but it comes with a price tag.

With immunotherapy, the immune system of the patient is stimulated to recognize and kill the cancer cells. This rather novel therapeutic approach sometimes provides spectacular results.

An important obstacle in making immunotherapy more broadly available is the cost. Professor Annemans calculated how much health would be gained using immunotherapy.
"The coming five years, 11 000 life years - of which 9 500 healthy life years - can be gained as compared to standard treatments. This means that the extra time that patients gain is often also qualitative. In that regard, immunotherapy is worth its price", he argues. "However, when setting the price, not only cost effectiveness matters but also the impact on the total budget. Immunotherapy is not a rare drug that can only help a few people. It currently involves 20 000 people, and this number will only increase in the future."

Read more (in Dutch) in De Morgen