Pharmacological class effects of anticancer drugs: opportunities for decreasing healthcare spending

In the field of general medicine, class effects, or therapeutic interchangeability, have been declared for several families of drugs including statins, calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors. The existence of such class effects enables healthcare payers to negotiate for substantially lower drug prices, thereby reducing financial toxicity, both at an individual and societal levels. Until now, the existence of class effects in oncology has been considered rare. Here, we review evidence from clinical trials that supports the existence of class effects for several types of anticancer drugs. These class effects in oncology should be exploited to reduce healthcare costs.