Cancer care is entering a new chapter.  

Breakthrough therapies are helping patients live longer lives, and new testing methods are making it easier to match people to treatments that work best for them. What’s more, innovative care models are bringing advanced therapies closer to where patients live. 

For healthcare decision-makers, these developments represent more than scientific progress. They’re reshaping how care is delivered, how benefits are designed, and how organizations balance access, affordability, and outcomes. 

Person-centered cancer care

For decades, cancer treatments followed a similar approach: Patients with the same type of cancer receive the same therapies. Modern care has shifted to a much more individualized strategy, taking a more holistic, personal approach to every patient’s journey. 

In breast cancer treatment, for example, advances in testing and targeted therapies create new options for patients based on the unique characteristics of their disease. Rather than treating all breast cancers the same way, clinicians can increasingly identify who is most likely to benefit from specific therapies.

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New breast cancer treatments kept the disease from worsening for about 5–11 months — roughly 3–5 months longer than comparison treatments.¹

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The same transformation is emerging in pancreatic cancer. New therapies targeting biological drivers are showing encouraging results, providing hope for a disease with one of the lowest survival rates among major cancers. 

Accessible therapies, powerful outcomes

Innovation is changing how cancer care is delivered and where it’s provided.

Once limited to large academic medical centers, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has become an established treatment option for several blood cancers and is expanding into additional diseases and earlier stages of treatment.  

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Starting CAR T outside the hospital can cut an initial hospital stay from 15 days to six days for some patients.²  

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As demand grows, healthcare organizations are exploring new models that bring these therapies closer to patients. New evidence suggests that appropriately equipped outpatient and community-based settings may be able to safely treat select patients while maintaining strong clinical outcomes. That means reduced travel burden, improved convenience and better overall experiences for patients.

Is faster drug development always better? 

Promising therapies can reach patients sooner through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) accelerated approval pathway. And while this approach speeds up access to potentially life-changing treatment — particularly for patients with limited options — long-term clinical effects may not be fully understood. 

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Medicare spent at least $569 million on 10 fast-tracked cancer drugs that did not help patients live longer.³ 

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Some therapies demonstrate strong clinical value and earn traditional approval, while others fail to produce the expected benefits. It’s also possible for therapies to be withdrawn after additional evidence emerges. Healthcare stakeholders are being asked to make important decisions with less data, and that’s a big challenge accelerated pathways must be prepared to address.

Making stronger care decisions

The oncology landscape is evolving quickly. Cancer treatment is more personalized, advanced therapies are more accessible and the pace of innovation continues to accelerate. 

For health plans, employers and consultants, the challenge is no longer about keeping up with new drug approvals. It’s understanding which innovations have the potential to improve outcomes, expand access and create long-term value for the people they serve. 

Dive into the Fall 2026 Prime Therapeutics Report for a comprehensive look at the oncology data and trends healthcare leaders need to know.

Download the report 

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References

1. Dent, R., Shao, Z., Schmid, P., Cortes, J., Cescon, D. W., Saji, S., Jung, K. H., Bachelot, T., Wang, S., Ramírez, E. M., Basaran, G., Stradella, A., Mathiba, R., Chen, S.-C., Shen, K., Wéber, Á., Battelli, N., Niikura, N., Luo, T., ... & Traina, T. (2026). Datopotamab deruxtecan in patients with untreated, advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TROPION-Breast02): A randomised, open-label, international, phase III trial. Annals of Oncology, 37(8), 1066–1080. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2026.03.008
2. Linhares, Y., Freytes, C. O., Cherry, M., Bachier, C., Maris, M., Hoda, D., Varela, J. C., Bellomo, C., Cross, S., Essell, J., Fanning, S., Terebelo, H., Yimer, H., Courtright, J., Sharman, J. P., Kostic, A., Vedal, M., Ogasawara, K., Avilion, A., ... & Mattar, B. (2024). OUTREACH: Phase 2 study of lisocabtagene maraleucel as outpatient or inpatient treatment at community sites for R/R LBCL. Blood Advances, 8(23), 6114–6126. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2024013254 
3. Shahzad, M., Naci, H., & Wagner, A. K. (2021). Estimated Medicare spending on cancer drug indications with a confirmed lack of clinical benefit after US Food and Drug Administration accelerated approval. JAMA Internal Medicine, 181(12), 1673–1675. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.5989