New cancer treatments shape as a significant cost for life insurers, according to Gen Re Chief Medical Officer John O’Brien.

Some new drugs have dramatically changed mortality rates, although not every new treatment has been successful, he says.

Medication should be offered on a “just price” basis when it is life-saving, London-based Dr O’Brien says.

When a new leukaemia drug was introduced in 2001, it cost $US25,000 ($33,021) per patient. The recovery of development costs was put at two years, based on this price.

“The effect of the drug is to prolong survival, and the numbers of patients treated with it increased progressively,” Dr O’Brien says.

“The price in 2013 hit $US92,000 ($121,734) per patient per year, raising the question whether the profit gained is excessive.”

Dr O’Brien says other new cancer treatments are similarly priced, or set slightly above existing drug prices.

“This practice has meant progressive price rises to the point where most of the newer drugs that hold promise cost about $100,000 ($132,328) per patient.

“The ethics of excessive profit-taking in the situation has to be questioned.”

While new drugs cut mortality rates, prevention is now seen as the better option.

“Early detection of cancer has been thought to predict better outcomes, because the earlier it is found, the more likely it may be cured. There is evidence that introduction of certain screening programs, such as the pap smear and mammography, have reduced mortality.”

However, there is a problem with screening detecting benign tumours.

“The development of biochemical markers and the detection of circulating cancer cells and cancer DNA promises to allow even earlier detection of tumours,” Dr O’Brien says.

“But interpretation of these tests remains problematic.”