Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I. Cancer Drugs: The Outcomes They Improve and at What Price
Chapter 1. The Basics of Cancer Drugs: Cost, Benefit, Value
Chapter 2. Surrogate Endpoints in Cancer: What Are They and Where Are They Used?
Chapter 3. The Use and Misuse of Surrogate Endpoints for Drug Approvals
Chapter 4. How High Prices Harm Patients and Society

Part II. Societal Forces That Distort Cancer Medicine
Chapter 5. Hype, Spin, and the Unbridled Enthusiasm That Distorts Cancer Medicine
Chapter 6. Financial Conflict of Interest
Chapter 7. The Harms of Financial Conflicts and How to Rehabilitate Medicine
Chapter 8. Will Precision Oncology Save Us?

Part III. How to Interpret Cancer Evidence and Trials
Chapter 9. Study Design 201
Chapter 10. Principles of Oncology Practice
Chapter 11. Important Trials in Oncology
Chapter 12. Global Oncology

Part IV. Solutions
Chapter 13. How Should Cancer Drug Development Proceed?
Chapter 14. What Can Three Federal Agencies Do Tomorrow?
Chapter 15. What Can People with Cancer Do?
Chapter 16. What Can Students, Residents, and Fellows Do?

Epilogue: The Hallmarks of Successful Cancer Policy
Glossary
References
Index

Promotional Information

How hype, money, and bias can mislead the public into thinking that many worthless or unproven treatments are effective.

About the Author

Vinayak K. Prasad, MD, MPH is a practicing hematologist-oncologist and internal medicine physician. An associate professor of medicine and public health at Oregon Health & Science University, he is the coauthor of Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives.

Reviews

Malignant is punchy and persuasive, and the author is clearly in command of his subject matter. Prasad offers valuable advice on how to keep up with research as well as the appropriate way to analyse clinical trial reports.
—Talha K Burki, The Lancet Hematology

Aimed at general readers (including patients), oncology trainees and experts in health-care policy, it informs and disturbs throughout.
—Andrew Robinson, Nature

Patients should ask their oncologist how good the cure is: do I really live longer and better than doing "nothing"? Let them start by asking whether their doctor has read Prasad's book.
—Zurich Weekly News Review

[Malignant is] so applicable to the issues of the pandemic . . . Because what we're seeing is a research infrastructure that is not set up to do rapid evaluation, and to be resilient and to respond to a health crisis.
—Marty Makary, MD, MPH, MedPage Today