Antibiotic resistance is the greatest threat to cancer patients

Investing in new oncology drugs without building up an effective arsenal against infections is a false economy.

Cancer survival rates have never been higher, but nor have the costs of treating cancer, with the escalating price of powerful new drugs being the main driver. Given that the number of clinical trials for new cancer drugs is at an all-time high, and with the vast majority of new drug treatments costing more than $283,000 in the US per patient per year, this trend is expected to continue. But such progress comes at a cost: a lack of investment in other kinds of drugs, particularly antibiotics, often a cancer patient’s last line of defence.