US approves first cancer drug to use patient's own cells – with $475,000 price tag

Novartis medication marketed as Kymriah treats most common type of childhood cancer, but some fear it could spur wave of highly expensive drugs

US regulators have approved the first cancer drug that uses a patient's own cells to fight cancer. But the drug is priced at $475,000.

Oncologists described the drug, made by Novartis and marketed as Kymriah, as revolutionary, but critics say the first-of-its-kind cancer treatment could usher in a new class of ultra-expensive medications.