Aging US population, increasing number of cancer incidences to drive double-digit growth through 2009
The overall US market for cancer therapies and treatments is projected to increase ten percent per year through 2009 to $27.1 billion, which compares favorably to the outlook for both gross domestic product and national health expenditures in the aggregate. The principal factor driving growth will be an increase in the number of cancer incidences as the population ages, since most cancers strike individuals aged 55 and over.
Advanced therapies to fortify overall growth
Projected growth in total cancer therapy demand masks sharp differences in prospects for the constituent components making up the market. In this case, a less sanguine outlook is forecast for traditional treatments such as cancer surgery and chemotherapy, and strong prospects exist for advanced therapies based on cancer vaccines, biotechnology, nanotechnology and stem cells (although the latter two are expected to emerge over a longer term outlook). The prognosis for hormonal therapies is less favorable, due in large measure to a number of proprietary drugs coming off patent.
Biotechnology cancer therapies are already beginning to proliferate in a major way, with drugs achieving FDA approval for treating metastatic colon cancer and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, with numerous others nearing approval and in various clinical and pre-clinical trial stages. Biotechnology cancer therapies offer highly precise treatment targeting the cancer cells themselves (while not affecting
healthy cells), utilizing genetic materials, proteins and monoclonal antibodies.
Trend towards outpatient treatment to continue
Maintaining established trends, an increasing number of cancer treatments will be administered in outpatient facilities as opposed to in-patient (hospital) settings, due to greater patient comfort and convenience, and cost considerations. In addition, an increasing number of therapies (especially with respect to conventional treatments such as chemotherapy) will be made in oral formulations, allowing for growth in the home health care market as well.
As biotechnology drugs continue to command a higher share of the overall cancer therapy market, traditional pharmaceutical companies will seek to participate by investing in and acquiring biotech concerns, a trend that is already beginning to take shape in the health care sector.
Study coverage
Specific information about therapies and treatments available to cancer patients of various types, as well as the markets providing such care is examined in a new Freedonia study, Cancer Therapies, which historical data plus forecasts to 2009 and 2014 are presented by type of cancer and by type of provider.
The study also examines advances in cancer therapy technology, including both available and emerging biotechnology treatments, and those with longer term potential, such as nanotechnology and stem cells. Socioeconomic and demographic factors are also discussed, such as the health care financing environment, aging of the population and incidence cancer and other diseases. In addition, an overview of the industry structure analyzes the key variables driving competition in this integral segment of the health care industry, and includes profiles for 26 US industry participants.
View Cart
