Researchers from USC recently examined how much cancer patients value hope, particularly with regard to end-of-life treatments.
The study, led by Darius Lakdawalla, director of research at the Schaeffer Center at USC and associate professor in the USC Price School of Public Policy, is published in a unique issue on cancer spending from the journal Health Affairs.
Lakdawalla and his co-authors surveyed 150 cancer patients receiving treatment and found an overwhelming majority preferred riskier treatments that presented with the possibility of longer survival over safer treatments. When compared to “safe bet” – treatments that would keep them alive for 18 months, but not longer – 77% of cancer patients said they would rather take a “hopeful gamble” with treatments that offered a 50/50 chance of either adding 3 years or no additional survival.
“Consumers tend to dislike risk, and researchers and policy makers have generally assumed that patients care about the average gain in survival,” Lakdawalla said. “But patients facing a fatal disease with relatively short remaining life expectancy may have less to lose and be more willing to swing for the fences. This analysis points to the larger ideal – that value should be defined from the viewpoint of the patient.”
Source: USC.