Brazil's Health Ministry begins offering nine cancer medications this week through the SUS, the country's public health system that provides free care to all residents, in the debut of a new policy for incorporating oncology drugs. The products cover 13 indications, including breast, stomach, kidney, prostate, lung and thyroid tumors, and the ministry estimates they will benefit 116,000 patients, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
What is confirmed: the initial distribution reaches 21 treatment centers in 17 states, and the official announcement was made this Tuesday (20th) at a national oncology event attended by Health Minister Alexandre Padilha at the Beneficência Portuguesa hospital in São Paulo, with SUS managers taking part at 19 other hospitals. What remains a promise: the government says it aims to reach 23 new oncology drugs in the public network by the end of the year, which would expand treatment options by 35%, and CNN Brasil reports an estimated budget impact of R$ 4 billion (roughly US$ 750 million) per year. These figures are the ministry's own projections and do not yet have a detailed delivery schedule.
The nine products are part of AF-Onco, a policy designed by the ministry, states and municipalities to organize the supply of cancer treatments. Some of the drugs were already purchased by the SUS and now gain new indications. That is the case of trastuzumab, currently used against breast cancer, which will now also reach patients with stomach tumors. "Patients with some types of lymphoma and leukemia will also be able to benefit from the expanded indications of rituximab," Padilha said, according to Folha.
Which medications are included
The list released by the Health Ministry, as reported by CNN Brasil, includes:
- Trastuzumab: stomach or esophagogastric junction cancer;
- Abemaciclib: early-stage breast cancer (HR+, Her2-, positive lymph node);
- Lanreotide acetate: neuroendocrine tumors;
- Pazopanib: metastatic clear cell kidney cancer;
- Rituximab: first-line chronic lymphocytic leukemia, follicular lymphoma and diffuse lymphoma;
- Abiraterone: metastatic prostate cancer or cancer resistant to hormone therapy;
- Gefitinib: first-line non-small cell lung cancer;
- Recombinant TSH (thyrotropin alfa): differentiated thyroid cancer with radioactive iodine indication;
- Sunitinib: metastatic kidney cancer and advanced GIST after imatinib failure.
Prices in the private sector show the scale of the cost the SUS is absorbing. Abemaciclib, indicated for early breast cancer with high risk of recurrence, can cost more than R$ 350,000 per year privately, according to documents cited in court cases mentioned by Folha; CNN Brasil puts the figure at R$ 366,000. According to CNN, some of these drugs had been awaited for more than ten years and were already on the SUS list but were not passed on to the states.
For patients, the practical guidance is direct: incorporation does not mean automatic access. Each drug follows a SUS clinical protocol that defines which tumor profiles, disease stages and treatment histories qualify for the therapy. Anyone in treatment should talk to the oncologist at their reference center to find out whether their case fits the new indications and whether the unit has already received the drugs, since distribution starts at 21 centers and is expected to expand over the coming weeks.