Cancer Trial Patients Get Median $2,128 Back for Travel, Lodging and Lost Work

Cancer trials don't just cost time and health. They cost money — for gas, plane tickets, hotel rooms, meals, internet and child care. New research published in CANCER tracked 18 years of reimbursements from the Lazarex Cancer Foundation, which paid out-of-pocket nonmedical costs for patients enrolled in therapeutic cancer trials at multiple U.S. sites from 2006 to 2024.

Among 2,826 people who received at least one reimbursement, the median total per patient came to $2,128, with a median trial participation of 4.3 months. Monthly reimbursements dropped steadily as trials wore on, sliding to 60% of their initial level by the three-month mark. The program only paid when no other sponsor or site support existed.

What patients claimed split along income lines. Internet, ground transportation and child or elder care showed up more often at lower incomes, while lodging and airfare were more common at higher incomes. After adjustments, monthly payouts ran higher for participants in middle-tier household income quartiles, those living farther from trial sites and those in phase 1 trials.

Lead author Sukh Makhnoon of UT Southwestern Medical Center's O'Donnell School of Public Health and Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center framed the spending as small change next to the rest of a trial's budget. "Covering patients' travel, lodging and other nonmedical expenses represents a relatively small investment," she said, adding the costs are "modest compared with what sponsors already spend per participant and decline substantially over time."

Makhnoon said reimbursing those costs "could be a practical and relatively inexpensive way to reduce financial barriers and make cancer clinical trials more accessible." Federal legislation on financial support for trial participants is currently under consideration in the U.S., and the study authors say better reimbursement programs are needed to make trial access and retention more equitable.