[Editorial] Minimalism in oncology (Lancet Oncology)

Expenses related to cancer treatment can diminish patients` quality of life and impede delivery of high-quality care. Thus, it is worrying that, in 2017, a study showed the price of some common cancer drugs in the USA rose at a rate higher than inflation. The US senate has recently started investigating why a 40-year-old cancer drug--lomustine, which has no generic competition--has increased in price by 1400% since 2013. At the 23rd Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (Orlando, FL, USA, March 22-24, 2018), oncologists had a heated debate about the congressional mandate that prohibits the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services from negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies in the USA.