Cancer treatment decisions are increasingly complicated. While some cancer treatments provide large benefits, many new approved treatments do not help patients live longer or better. Cancer systems now face a troubling paradox. In some circumstances there is substantial overuse of treatments with very small benefits, while at the same time, many patients worldwide lack access to effective treatments which can make a meaningful difference in their lives.

Common sense oncology promotes interventions that measurably improve the lives of patients, while challenging interventions that might cause more harm than good. It looks at equitable access to affordable high-quality care, working towards a future where cancer care and innovation are focused on outcomes that matter to patients, rather than the commercial bottom line.

Learn more in this webinar with Dr Deme Karikios, a founding member of the Common Sense Oncology movement and an active member of the COSA Financial Toxicity Working Group.

Dr Deme Karikios
Medical Oncologist, Nepean Hospital

Dr Deme Karikios is a medical oncologist at Nepean Hospital in Sydney and the immediate past chair of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia. He has clinical and research interest in thoracic and gastrointestinal malignancies, as well as research interest in the costs and value of anticancer drugs, decisions about treatment with expensive unsubsidised anticancer drugs, and financial toxicity. He was awarded his PhD in 2019, entitled “The consequences of rising anticancer drug costs in Australia” which he undertook at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney. He is also co-supervisor of several PhD students and a senior clinical lecturer at University of Sydney.