Chemotherapy drugs are among the top five drug classes with active shortages, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Here’s the state of chemotherapy drug shortages, as of Sept. 25.
1. There are currently 22 chemotherapy drugs in shortage in the U.S.
2. Among those, 15 are injectable and seven are noninjectable.
3. Chemotherapy drugs are the fourth-highest class of drugs in shortage.
4. Chemotherapy drug shortages have eased slightly since peaking in 2023, but are about on par with 2020 levels.
5. Faced with ongoing scarcity, some oncologists have begun reserving cancer drugs for patients with more promising prognoses over those for whom treatment would merely extend life, Kathleen Murphy, RN, executive director of Nursing Services at Tennessee Oncology, told Medscape. In a May poll, more than half of oncology practices report being affected by shortages across 23 cancer drugs.
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