They say that money can’t buy love- but in some very specific ways, it can definitely buy you time..and even life. And that’s one of the problems with the cutting-edge treatments now available for many cancer patients. Many cancer patients, especially seniors, are literally being priced out of the market by the exorbitant costs of treatment options.

Writing recently in The Wall Street Journal (paywall), Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel bemoans the skyrocketing expense associated with new customized immunotherapies for cancer patients. His suggestion? Tie FDA approval of new therapies to drug pricing. And new research bears out the real-life problem that seniors especially face when confronted with cancer treatment costs. Estimates are that one in five older adults faces serious problems due to the cost of cancer care, including the need to delay medications, mental health and stress consequences, and even trade-offs with food and housing to pay for treatment. Read more about these distressing research findings here.

As a result, some older patients may seek out less costly “alternative” therapies. While it’s possible that unconventional treatments can provide help in conjunction with more mainstream cancer approaches, patients need to be careful about the risk associated with often untested remedies, especially in place of, rather than alongside, scientifically validated treatment options. Read more about the risks here. One other possible, less costly option for cancer patients are clinical research trials that provide not-yet-approved treatment modalities for no cost to study participants. There are risks and benefits to this alternative path as well. For a general guide as to what it means to participate in a clinical cancer trial, read this recent post from Pro Publica.