Editorial - Journal of Genetics and Molecular Biology (2017) Volume 1, Issue 1

New generation of cancer treatment: Immunotherapy

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for 8.8 million deaths in 2015 (WHO). In 2017, there will be an estimated 1,688,780 new cancer cases diagnosed and 600,920 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the US (Siegel et al. Cancer Statistics, 2017, CA: A Cancer J Clin). The disease attacks patient’s immune system and completely lowers it down. Traditional cancer treatment includes one of the following options: Chemotherapy, Radiation or Surgery. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that the direct medical costs for cancer in the US in 2013 were $74.8 billion. Forty-four percent of those costs were related to the hospital outpatient services or office-based provider visits, and 40% were for inpatient hospital stays. These estimates are based on a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals and their healthcare providers called the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). MEPS is the most complete, nationally representative data on healthcare use and expenditures.

Author(s): Birju M Mehta*,Vipul Kumar Patel, Sachin G Thakkar

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