Drugs tend to be specific to a particular type of carcinoma.
They may be approved for use (and subsidisation in cost to the patient via the PBS).
However there may also be situations where the same drug can used for a different type of carcinoma, but isn't approved by the PBS for subsidisation. In this instance the patient may have to bear the full cost of the treatment.
Drug companies go to considerable time and expense in developing new drugs and also to test them and try to produce data that indicates the use of a drug (either a newly developed drug, or an older drug that is accepted for use on a specific carcinoma) is beneficial to the patient.
In these instances the drug companies may run comparative Trials to demonstrate the efficacy of their drug perhaps in comparison to other drugs. These trials are initially rated at Phase1 and if the results produce positive data move on to Phase2 and Phase3 .
Drug companies need numbers of people for these trials to go ahead. They provide healthcare including CT scans, blood tests, xrays etc at no financial cost to the patient. I was offered a place on a Phase 3 testing of a new drug to treat renal cancer, however as it was a comparative test there was no guarantee that one would be give the experimental drug.
There can be a cost in other ways though. The trial was being run in Sydney and I live in Canberra. They wanted me to visit the hospital premises in Sydney every 2 weeks for assessment and treatment. I would also be expected to answer telephone and email questionnaires. Because of the onerous travel and all the reporting conditions, that would have been involved I declined the offer.
I was very pleased to hear that the experimental drug was accepted into the PBS for treatment of renal carcinomas in July last year.
The PBS can be easily searched to determine what drugs are approved for use on particular carcinomas. As mine was approved the cost to me was about $38 a month. If the drug had not been approved the full cost would have been more than $4.5K a month , although I understand that in these situations the drug companies sometimes come to an agreement with the patient enabling the to be able to afford the drug at a lower cost.
Hope that answer your question
@hedge