4 Your Health: Cancer centers seeing shortage of two treatment drugs
Leaders of prominent cancer centers in the United States say a growing shortage of common cancer treatments is forcing doctors to switch medications and delaying some care. It's a problem that is leaving many local doctors and patients concerned.
"They need these drugs to survive," said Dr. Stanley Marks.
Marks is talking about his concerns for patients and their doctors throughout the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center network and beyond.
"For a large cancer center like us, I can tell you that 90% of the largest cancer centers in the country have this same issue," he said.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network reports that nearly all the centers it surveyed are dealing with shortages of carboplatin and cisplatin, a pair of drugs used to treat a range of cancers.
"Now it's drying up, and most of the sites have very little of the cisplatin, so unless something breaks, it's only going to get worse over the next few weeks to months," Marks said.
Dr. Nathan Bahary says Allegheny Health Network is well stocked for now, but he's also concerned about the shortage.
"To date, here at AHN, at the Cancer Institute, we have not had to ration the drug to anybody who needs it for a life-saving treatment," Bahary said.
Bahary and Marks both believe the federal government has to be more proactive in addressing all drug shortages.
"Hopefully, people stand up and say to the FDA and the Congress, we would like better oversight of this and better prediction of this, some sort of help to bring some of that production, perhaps, back to the United States," Bahary said.
In all, Marks says there are about 20 chemotherapy drugs in short supply, but the three of major importance are used to treat about 20-30% of all cancer patients.
"If patients don't get the treatment necessary to save them, patients could die," Marks said.
"We have to be transparent, but at the same time, we don't want to frighten patients," he said.
Manufacturing problems, unexpected spikes in demand and tight ingredient supplies have all contributed to a growing number of prescription drug shortages.
"We are very concerned," Marks said. "Right now, we are making do, and very few patients have been impacted. But if we don't have a significant influx of cisplatin over the next two weeks, it's really going to be problematic."
