ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Wilmot Cancer Institute in Rochester is continuing to deal with a nationwide shortage of some of the most standard cancer drugs. It’s an issue News10NBC has been telling you about for more than a year now.

Pharmacists at Wilmot tell News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke that they have a lot of planning ahead to ensure they have what they need, or a substitute.

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When cancer drugs are in short supply, it puts terrible stress on patients like Robin Finley, who is fighting metastatic endometrial cancer.

“Carboplatin has been very effective against my kind of cancer numerous times. At one point I was even in a remission for a while,” Finley said.

But that drug and a handful of others that treat all types of cancers aren’t as profitable for drug makers as they once were. It’s one of the main reasons why the shortages continue.

“If this is about money, that’s wrong because it’s a life saving drug and mine is one life but there’s so many of us out here that need that drug,” Finley said.

Dr. Daniel Mulkerin is the medical director at Wilmot. In addition to the stress on his patients, drug shortages are stressing his researchers.

“Typically research programs have a few year horizon from the time you start planning them to the time that they are complete so, to have to take long pauses in the middle because of uncontrollable factors like drug shortages is a big deal,” Dr. Mulkerin said.

Cancer centers across the country are experiencing the same thing which means drug shortages won’t just impact current patients.

“We offer each individual patient the hope for a better outcome and all future patients the hope for a better outcome, this is how we do it and when things like drug shortage slow us down, it hurts patients of today and patients of tomorrow,” Dr. Mulkerin said.

“Despite the shortages, at any given time here at Wilmot they are still conducting about 150 clinical trials,” Lewke said.

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