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6 Predictions for Cancer Care in 2025

Analysis  |  By Christopher Cheney  
   December 18, 2024

Cancer centers will see more cancer cases in general and more cancer cases in young adults, according to this chief medical executive.

The coming year will see several significant developments in cancer care, according to the chief medical executive at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Jeffrey Lee, MD, has been chief medical executive ad interim at MD Anderson since September. He also serves as chief cancer network officer and deputy chief operating officer, and he is a professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology.

Lee has six predictions for cancer care in 2025.

1. Incidence of cancer: "We are going to see more patients with cancer and more cancer in younger patients," he says.

"It is broadly known that as the population in the United States ages, there will be more patients with cancer," he says. "We are seeing that in Texas and Houston."

There will also be a rise in the number of cancer cases among young adults, Lee says.

"In certain populations and certain cancer types, we are seeing more young patients with cancer," he says. "We do not understand all the reasons for this trend, but colorectal cancer is a well-known example. We need to be prepared to manage more young adults with cancer than ever before."

Jeffrey Lee, MD, is chief medical executive ad interim at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Photo courtesy of MD Anderson Cancer Center.

2. Increased competition for cancer care: Next year, competition to serve cancer patients, which has always been a factor in oncology, is expected to intensify, according to Lee.

"We compete nationally with organizations that we consider to be our peers such as Memorial Sloan Kettering as well as those that have a national presence in cancer care such as City of Hope, which has an enlarging national presence through an affiliate program," he says. "We are also competing against organizations such as Mayo Clinic, which has facilities outside of Minnesota."

To stand out among this competition, Lee says providers such as MD Anderson must use new technology and strategies to provide more care to patients close to their homes.

"For us, we are investing heavily in suburban facilities and making certain that those facilities are staffed with our multidisciplinary teams," he says. "We cannot just have a medical oncologist or a radiation oncologist or a surgeon—we must have all three components of the specialty care team. We also need to have ancillary services available to support the patient in their care journey such as social services, physical therapy, and consultative services for patients with comorbidities."

Virtual care is also a factor in competition for cancer patients, according to Lee.

"With nationwide networks for existing hospitals and cancer centers and the increasing availability of virtual care options, patients have options for excellent cancer care." he says. "At MD Anderson, we are committed to ensuring we provide high-quality, high-value care for our patients. Through our virtual care options and partnerships with hospitals and health systems across the country, we aim to make our comprehensive cancer care available to more patients closer to where they live."

3. Shift from inpatient to outpatient care: The trend of treating cancer patients in the outpatient setting rather than hospitals will accelerate next year, according to Lee.

"One of the wonderful things about being able to care for cancer patients today is we have more effective treatment options such as immunotherapy and targeted therapies based on molecular analysis of patients' tumors," he says. "That means we can treat patients much more effectively with lower toxicities increasingly in the outpatient setting for care that used to be provided in the inpatient setting."

When it comes to treatments such as radiation therapy and surgery, cancer centers have been able to identify many opportunities to de-escalate care and provide care in a more targeted way, Lee explains.

"For example, we can provide radiation therapy with fewer treatments and less toxicity—we can provide patients with care that has less side effects so they do not require inpatient care," he says.

Minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery have decreased the length of hospital stays and created opportunities to conduct cancer surgeries in the outpatient setting, Lee says.

Cancer centers are also finding ways to keep patients out of the hospital and to support them better as they transition from inpatient care to outpatient care, according to Lee.

"If patients do develop side effects or symptoms, we can manage those in the outpatient setting more effectively and more comfortably than having to admit them to the hospital," he says.

4. State and national regulations and policies: "In 2025, there are going to be some healthy and long-overdue conversations as well as impactful decisions made at the state and national level," Lee says.

These conversations and decisions will be focused on oversight of healthcare delivery, Lee explains, adding cancer will be a key driver of these decisions because it is such an emotionally important aspect of overall healthcare.

"We are going to be talking about denials of care," he says. "We are going to be talking about the site at which care is delivered and what is safest for patients. We are going to be having conversations about healthcare insurance, including managed Medicare programs."

5. Physician shortages: Cancer centers will continue to struggle with physician shortages, according to Lee.

"There will continue to be shortages of certain specialty physicians, including those who provide highly specialized cancer care," he says. "It is hard to imagine, but we expect to have a shortage of medical oncologists in the future. Therefore, we need to accelerate our leadership and talent pipeline, including training many of the medical oncologists who will later become physicians and faculty members."

The intensifying physician shortage will be an element of increased competition between cancer centers, Lee explains.

"This means we will be competing for the same talent pool," he says.

When they consider where they want to work, physicians are weighing factors beyond compensation, according to Lee.

"Physicians are increasingly considering quality of work and life in their career choices," he says. "MD Anderson prioritizes initiatives that support employee well-being, professional fulfillment, and community resilience. Our incoming Chief Wellness Officer will spearhead efforts as part of our ongoing efforts to nurture the physical, emotional, and mental health of our employees and patients."

6. AI adoption: Cancer centers will step up efforts to adopt AI tools in 2025, according to Lee.

"There is a lot of talk about how AI can be implemented into the care of cancer patients to improve the ability of physicians and other care providers to offer effective and efficient care," he says. "AI can help ensure that the documentation that is in the patient's record is accurate. We are already accelerating the implementation of AI into patient care at MD Anderson and other cancer organizations across the country."

AI can help cancer centers grapple with the increasing amount of data generated in oncology, Lee explains.

"For example, the complex molecular information that we now receive for many patients with cancer can include hundreds of mutations," he says. "That information needs to be integrated into the patient's medical record. It needs to be annotated or summarized in a way that is most helpful to the care team. These are all areas where AI can help us."

Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

Next year, there will be increased competition among cancer centers to serve patients.

The shift from inpatient care to outpatient care is expected to continue in cancer care next year.

Cancer centers will step up efforts to adopt AI tools in 2025.


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