Consideration of cancer medicines as part of the revisions to 2019 WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for adults (EML) and Model List of Essential Medicines for children (EMLc): Section 8 - Immunomodulators and Antineoplastics

At the 2017 meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines, the potential to identify thresholds of benefits for cancer medicines was discussed. The Expert Committee recommended the establishment of the Cancer Medicines Working Group (CMWG) to review selected cancer medicines for the Essential Medicines List (EML - incorporating the Essential Medicines List for Children, EMLc). The aim was to establish clear principles that can guide the selection of optimal medicines to be considered for EML inclusion and review the available tools and thresholds for clinical and public health relevance of a medicine.

The mandate of this working group is to focus on the benefits and benefit-risk balance associated with new cancer treatments, and to discuss the magnitude of benefit issues, including the values of new treatments. It is important to be mindful of the risk of “selling hope” to patients, given the marginal benefits of some recently approved new medicines and also the consequences of the expenditure for patients and health systems.