Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37902259›Full record

ArticleCancer medicine2023

Essential cancer medicines and cancer outcomes: Cross-sectional study of 124 countries.

Oghenefejiro Theresa Ikpeni, Darshanand Maraj, Hannah Woods, Aine Workentin, Christopher M Booth, Nav Persaud

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Life expectancy of cancer patients in China.Military Medical Research · 2026
    Article
  3. Observational
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Oghenefejiro Theresa IkpeniMAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Darshanand MarajMAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-5479-8327
Hannah WoodsMAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Aine WorkentinMAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Christopher M BoothDepartment of Oncology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Nav PersaudMAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-3327-5580
St. Michael's Hospital · CAQueen's University · CA

Funding

CIHR
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Alongside other interventions, access to certain medicines may decrease cancer-associated mortality. Listing medicines on national essential medicines lists may improve health outcomes. We examine the association between cancer mortality amenable to care and the listing of cancer medicines on national essential medicines lists (NEMLs) of 124 countries.

methodsIn this cross-sectional study, we determined the number of medicines used to treat eight cancers on NEMLs and used multiple linear regression to analyze the association between cancer health outcome scores and the number of medicines on NEMLs while controlling for GDP. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted using selected medicines.

findingsThe number of cancer medicines on NEMLs was not associated with cancer health outcome scores when GDP was controlled for non-melanoma skin (p = 0.224), uterine (p = 0.221), breast (p = 0.145), Hodgkin's lymphoma (p = 0.697), colon (p = 0.299), leukemia (p = 0.103), cervical (p = 0.834), and testicular cancers (p = 0.178).

interpretationThere was a weak association between listing medicines for eight cancers in NEMLs and amenable mortality. Further studies are required to explore association between cancer health outcomes and other factors such as actual availability of medicines listed, access to surgeries, accurate diagnosis, radiotherapy, and early detection.

Indexed as

Drugs, EssentialLeukemiaTesticular NeoplasmsCross-Sectional StudiesDeveloping CountriesHumansMaleDrugs, Essential

Identifiers

PMID37902259
PMCPMC10709725
OpenAlexW4388014569

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.