A study designed to determine how many patients are foregoing health care services because of money woes has revealed that 2 million out of 12 million adult cancer survivors have foregone medical treatment because of finances (Associated Press).

Researcher Kathryn Weaver of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem led the study, which examined surveys taken by 110,000 people from 2003-2006.

Of those 110k, 6,600 were cancer survivors.  Weaver and her team determined that cancer survivors under the age of 65 were 1.5 to 2 times more likely to have put off medical care because they could not afford it than those who had not had cancer.

Ten percent of cancer survivors also admitted they had put off filling prescriptions for the same reason.  Because previous research has shown that 4% of those newly diagnosed with cancer are uninsured, the Wake Forest study shows that insured cancer survivors are also struggling, whether from trying to hit their deductible, or from being unable to afford a copay. 

The study is being published by the journal Cancer, a publication of the American Cancer Society.