10/2013 NY Mag: Cancer drugs have become a very big business, even though they serve what one expert has described as a “boutique” market. An estimated 1.7 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the National Cancer Institute, and more than 580,000 people will die from some form of malignancy. In 2012, the overall market for “oncologics” reached nearly $26 billion a year in the U.S. alone, and annual global sales are projected to total $85 billion by 2016, according to the IMS Institute for Health Informatics."
(EvaluatePharma estimates $84 billion for current global "oncologics" market.)

That buys a lot of K Street lobbyists. 

NCI estimated that extending the lives of the 550,000 Americans who die of cancer annually by one year would cost $440 billion,

Cost of cancer treatment pills only. All the other costs of cancer treatment and care are not included. Zaltrap, $11,000/month; Yervoy, $39,000/month; Provenge, $93,000/course of treatment; Erbitux, $8,400/month; Avastin $5,000/month; Gleevec, $7,700/month; Tasigna, $9,600/month; Sprycel, $10,250/month.

Low dose Dharmanol costs $25 for six tablets.