Financing Cancer Care: Investing in Prevention, Early Detection, and Diagnosis

Each year, almost 10 million people lose their lives to cancer, causing immeasurable pain and loss. However, this toll is not inevitable: an estimated 40 percent (or more) of US cancer cases are linked to modifiable risk factors, and nearly half of cancer deaths are preventable.

Preventing cancer entirely and detecting cancer in its early stages are two powerful ways in which 4.75 million cancer deaths have been averted over the past fifty years. Additionally, prevention and early detection save enormous amounts of costs for patients and health care systems, relative to the costs of treating later-stage cancers.

More investment is needed into cancer prevention, early detection, and diagnosis. Yet the benefits of early cancer detection and accurate diagnosis do not easily or directly translate into near-term profits, so resources concentrate instead on treatments with clearer paths to scale and sustainability. Meanwhile, prevention efforts remain underprioritized, screening uptake is inconsistent, and promising diagnostic innovations may fail to reach broad adoption.

This report presents strategies for coordinating operational resources and implementing financial innovations to overcome barriers to investment in prevention, early detection, and diagnosis. Reallocating resources toward prevention and early detection represents a more cost-effective, equitable, and sustainable approach to cancer care.