Over 40 thousand people line the streets of St. Louis walking in the Koman Race for the Cure on June 15, 2013. A new report says the U.S. cancer care delivery system is in crisis due to a growing demand for cancer care, increasing complexity of treatment, a shrinking workforce and rising costs. UPI/Bill Greenblatt | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Barriers to excellent U.S. cancer care remain daunting as the number cancer cases rises from 1.6 million to some 2.3 million in 2022, a non-profit group says.

A report by The Institute of Medicine, an independent, non-profit organization, said the U.S. cancer care delivery system is in crisis due to a growing demand for cancer care, increasing complexity of treatment, a shrinking workforce and rising costs.


The IMO convened a committee of experts to examine the quality of U.S. cancer care and to formulate recommendations for improvement. The report, "Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis" presented the committee's findings and recommendations.

All stakeholders -- including cancer care teams, patients, their families, researchers, quality metrics developers, payers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, federal agencies and industries -- must re-evaluate their current roles and responsibilities in cancer care and work together to develop a higher quality cancer care delivery system, the report said.