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Now that Gleevec has been taken off the experimental list, insurance companies will probably pick up the tab. Cancer most often strikes the elderly, however, and Medicare's role in paying for prescription drugs is still undecided. President Bush's drug plan would add $153 billion for Medicare drug benefits through 2011. Democrats call the amount "inadequate," and even congressional Republicans agree it is not enough. The final numbers will be hammered out later this year.
At least the drug companies and politicians have something to argue about. Given the painfully slow development of effective cancer treatments over the past three decades, the flood of positive results reported at last week's oncology conference was especially gratifying. "Cancer treatment has always been a satisfying profession," says Dr. Michael Gordon, a cancer specialist at the University of Arizona. "But now it's truly exciting. I've been wondering to myself about where I will be in 20 to 25 years, and I'm thinking that I might just be out of a job. And that will be great."
--With reporting by Dan Cray/Los Angeles and Christine Gorman/New York