A Case Study Of Rare And Less Common Cancers

North Central Health District website, 2013). The cancer mortality rate has been on the decline

Cancer is the second largest cause of death in Australia and accounts for approximately 27% of all deaths. Risk factors generally include exposure to sun, poor diet and smoking. Many types of cancer such as skin cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer are easily preventable by early detection and awareness; however, some cancers cannot be prevented.

According to statistics published by the American Cancer Society, there will be an estimated 1.5 million new cancer cases diagnosed each year over the next decade. What factors contribute to the yearly incidence

Cancer is one of the leading cause of death in Australia and has a considerable social and economic influence on individuals, families and the community. Statistics shows that Australia has third highest cancer rate approximately 323 people being diagnosed per 100,000 in the world. (Begg & etal, 2007, pg.116). According to the recent disease study in burden of disease by WHO and Global Burden of disease study 2012, the findings of study showed 16% and 19% of the total disease burden in Australia (Moore & et al, 2007 pg.88)). Cancer is the sixth most expensive chronic disease due to the high expenditure of treatment and management compared to other chronic disease. It has been further described that approximately $4.5 billion were spent on cancer in 2008-09, accounting for 7% of total healthcare expenditure on chronic disease (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2013b, p.7) and 79% of total expenditure that spent on cancer patients who were admitted in hospital which is 20% more than the same expenditure that was spent on all

Indigenous Australians have higher lung, cervix and liver cancer rates than the rest the rest of the Australian population however the rates of breast, colon, rectum, lymphoma, prostate and melanoma are lower than that of the rest of the population. [1] The cancers that appear at lower rates throughout the indigenous community often appear at later stages of life through the age group that acquires them more frequently through the rest of the population. Due to the shorter life expectancy of the indigenous community the rates at which these age related cancers occur will be lower as fewer people are reaching the age where they begin to commonly take place. [2]

Hearing a diagnosis of cancer leaves most patients in a state of shock and unsure of what their next step should be. While they are still wrapping their brain around the diagnosis, they are being bombarded with information, testing, and multiple physician appointments. They need guidance and support to direct them through the complicated health care system in a timely fashion that reduces the delay in their treatment, as well as assist them in identifying and overcoming any barriers to these delays.

Transition: Since we know that funding for this cancer is so low let’s see how far research study goes.

For many types of cancers, we have been using the same base drug (first line treatment) for ten years or even longer. As companies find new drugs to fight the cancers, they hope that it will be the miracle drug that will eradicate the cancer, but it usually isn’t. When they reach this conclusion, instead of returning to the chalkboard and continuing to work to improve the drug, they put the drug on the market as is, and hope it will achieve something. Not only are they putting these drugs on the market but they put price tags on them that would bankrupt anyone without some sort of third party payer. The combination of all of these drugs make up what doctors

According to the Canadian Cancer Statistics (2015), “about 2 in 5 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime, and about 1 in 4 Canadians will die of cancer” (p. 6). In 1971, President Nixon and Congress declared a war on cancer. Since then, the U.S Federal government has spent over 105 billion on the effort. Dr. Spector and Dr. Kolata, a noted professor of medicine, pharmacology and biochemistry, have noted that since 1950, the cancer death rate, adjusted for the size and age of the population has decreased by only 5%. They argue that there has been little progress on the war against cancer.

Cancer is an issue worldwide that does not favor race, gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Although, particular cancer’s can effect some individuals more than others. For example, breast cancer. According to the Center of Disease Control & Preventions (2017), “Both women and men can get breast cancer, though it is much more common in women.” In the United States, breast cancer is the second leading cancer among women of any race. It is the most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanics and the second among white, Asian, black and Pacific Islander women (Center of Disease Control & Prevention, 2016). According to the American Cancer Society (2016), “ In 2015, 231,840 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and of those women

when compared to the thousands of people in the United States but the number of 1,960 is not

Every year over 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer in the United States alone and nearly 600,000 will die as a result of the disease1. Cancer, being defined as a group of over 100 prominent diseases formed from the growth of uncontrolled cells within the body, affects the social and economic lives of citizens2. With any diagnosis comes the financial burden of hospital bills and treatment costs. According to ASCO, approximately one-third of working-age cancer survivors go into debt while three percent of patients go bankrupt from cancer care costs3. This has been a consistent issue for more than six decades. National expenditures for cancer care in the United States totaled nearly $125 billion in 2010 and could reach $156 billion, almost a 39% increase, in 20201. During the four years following their

Cancer is figured to be the second leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. With approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012, alone .Why are so many people stuck suffering with this deadly disease? Millions of dollars have been invested into cancer research, yet there is no cure. Are these pharmaceutical companies focus on finding a cure for cancer or concentrating on elongated treatments in order to lengthen their pockets? We must first understand that cancer is big business earning huge profits. Nonetheless, the cancer industry is spending virtually zilch of its multi-billion dollar resources on effective prevention strategies, like dietary guidelines, exercise, natural remedies and herbs proven to cure cancer. Instead, it pours its money into treating cancer, not preventing or allaying it.

Even with health insurance, the high costs of cancer leaves many people vulnerable trying to keep up with their payments, while also trying to keep with with everyday life expenses as well. There was a study done with 552 people who read four different scenarios of cancer treatments. They were presented with the out-of-pocket cost along with the profit cost after they were asked to pick one. The results found that cancer patients were less interested in the treatment they chose after they were informed of the cost of the treatment and the profit made from the treatment. According to the American Cancer Society, “one quarter of cancer patients in the US put off getting a test or treatment because of the cost.”(10 Statistics, 1). This goes to show that patients are more concerned with how much the treatment costs rather than the profit that will be made when deciding on a

While the completion of treatment is excitedly anticipated, many cancer survivors would still be disturbed by the emotional and physical tribulation of their breast cancer trajectory (Surbone & Peccatori, 2006). This is because, the impact of cancer remains long even after treatment ended. Besides the common issues that accompany any cancer diagnosis, breast cancer survivors also have to deal with exclusive concerns such as decreased sexual function, relationship issues, fears about genetic inheritability of cancer and complications from this disease such as lymphedema (Hodgkinson, Butow, Fuchs, et al., 2007). Therefore, the completion of treatment does not equate to lesser need for health care. Long term health issues related to breast cancer survivors have thus emerged as a public health concern.