Source: The New York Times
By: Andrew Pollack
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death. Most patients are diagnosed after the cancer has advanced and is almost impossible to remove by surgery. In the United States alone, there will be 45,000 cases of pancreatic cancer, in which about 38,000 will lead to death. Patients usually live up to half a year. Celgene, a drug administering company was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, to put their drug, Abraxane to use for pancreatic cancer. Abraxane statistically provided a significant prolonging of patients lives'. The drug was effective enough to add 8.5 months to a diagnosed persons life. The F.D.A did conclude that Abraxane might cause some serious side effects, such as lung inflammation, or bacterial bloodstream infections. The fact that this drug grants someone 8.5 more months of life is great, but would someone really want to live those last months, paying 6 to 8,000 dollars a month knowing that their lives are soon to end.
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