Cancer Drug Shortages Deliver ‘Gut Punch’ to Patients Unsure If Their Survival Odds Will Be Undercut

July 19, 2023

(STAT News) – Cancer physician groups have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks about national shortages in key medications, including longtime generic drugs like carboplatin and cisplatin. Those drugs comprise the backbone of potentially curative treatment for breast, lung, prostate, and gynecologic cancers, as well as many types of leukemia and lymphoma, according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit alliance of academic cancer centers.

Nearly all cancer centers — 93% — have reported a shortage of carboplatin, and 70% have similar supply problems with cisplatin, according to a late May survey conducted by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Medical groups have issued guidance on how to ration the existing supply. (Read More)