In this episode of the Cancer Letter Podcast, all three of The Cancer Letter’s reporters come together to talk about the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cancer care.

Claire Marie Porter, reporter with The Cancer Letter, Jacquelyn Cobb, associate editor and reporter, and Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher, discussed last week’s story, “Trump’s tariffs will likely affect cancer drugs and devices—and may deepen drug shortages.”

The effects are wide-ranging and pretty uncertain, Claire said. But the cost of raw materials for drugs has already risen since the tariffs have been imposed, and health economists are predicting that the tariffs—if healthcare and medical goods are not exempted—will lead to shortages of generic drugs and higher costs in the branded drug space.

If shortages of generic drugs worsen, there's no question that there would be direct harm to patients, the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Julie Gralow said in the story.

“Direct harm to patients means pretty direct. I mean, it's death, in a lot of cases,” Paul said. “If you didn't get the platinum drugs or 5FU or what have you, well, you can actually show how many patients died. It affects pediatric patients even.”

Other stories mentioned in this podcast include:

• Guest editorial by Shannon McWeeney and Sorena Nadaf-Rahrov: Caught in the crossfire: The critical threats facing cancer centers, research, and patient care

• Columbia’s cancer center becomes collateral damage in Trump’s war on antisemitism

• Guest editorial by Former NCI Director Kimryn Rathmell: We need a “March Madness” for cancer research—“Cancer is a tremendously challenging tournament, but we are in it to win”

• Guest editorial by Jamillah Hoy-Rosas: Health innovation and health equity: Ensuring technologies advance resilience, justice, and compassionate care

A transcript of this podcast is available: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/20250326-tariffs/