Why Develop Digital Therapeutics in Oncology?
WHITE PAPER
Introduction
Today, cancer remains a worldwide leading cause of morbidity and mortality. According to the report “Global Cancer
Observatory” published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), 2020 saw nearly 20 million new
cancer cases globally and close to 10 million deaths¹. The fiveyear prevalence of cancer worldwide totals more than 50
million cases. By 2040, the same organization expects 30.2 new million cancer cases per year, which represents a 57% increase compared to 2020. Cancer care and treatment remains a specialty medicine that requires attention , monitoring and personalization of care due to various unmet medical needs:
- Lack of effective approaches to control cancer. For most advanced cancers, existing treatment options are not sufficient to offer a path to recovery, and many patients face no other option than palliative care.
- Treatment toxicity, management of side effects and impact on quality of life. Side effects related to treatment (including diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, pain, and vomiting) are common in cancer treatments. As they can appear early in the patient journey , side effects often lead to lower treatment adherence and poorer health outcomes.
- Insufficient access to affordable cancer care. In the United States, the annual cost of cancer treatment was an estimated $170Bn in 2020. This is an increase of 40% compared to 10 years earlier². One major factor in this increase is avoidable spending, such as costs related to unplanned hospitalizations or ER visits.
According to IQVIA Institute³, oncology is the leading therapeutic area within the pharmaceutical market, representing around $273Bn and close to 20% of total market share across all therapeutic areas. Oncology is also the leading area of R&D investment. Consequently, the next four years…
- International Agency for Research on Cancer. “The Global Cancer Observatory, GLOBOCAN.” 2020.
- Mariotto AB, Yabroff KR, Shao Y, Feuer EJ, Brown ML. “Projections of the cost of cancer care in the United States: 2010–2020.” J Natl Cancer Inst., 2011: 103:117–128.
- IQVIA. “Global Medicine Spending and Usage Trends.” 2021.
