Utility of Cancer Value Frameworks for Patients, Payers, and Physicians

In recent years, novel cancer therapies have improved the expected survival of patients but have also increased treatment costs. As a result of these increases, patients are concerned about increasing out-of-pocket costs, clinicians must assess whether “do no harm” includes patient financial harm, and payers want to know if novel therapies are worth the cost.¹

To answer these questions, some organizations have created value frameworks that can be applied to cancer therapies. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO),² European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO),³ Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER),⁴ Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC),⁵ and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)⁶ have all developed value frameworks. These organizations define value conceptually as a measure of treatment benefits relative to cost, but each organization uses a different method for measuring value. This Viewpoint describes the methodological differences across these frameworks and provides recommendations for improving them for clinicians, patients, and payers.