Health system costs for cancer medications and radiation treatment in Ontario for the 4 most common cancers: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

I n an age of shrinking health care dollars and expensive treatments, there is a need to understand the resources and costs associated with treatments. Decision-makers need this type of data when conducting health technology assessments, budget impact analyses and economic analyses. Cancer is burdensome clinically to patients. It is becoming increasingly burdensome economically and is associated with substantial financial toxicity (problems a patient has related to the cost of treatment). 1 When planning system health services, it is important to understand both the resources and costs associated with cancer treatment. In most cases, it is not possible to capture direct costs with a population-level approach. In this study, we used previously constructed costing algorithms to examine cancer-related medication and radiation resources and costing across the 4 most common cancersbreast, colorectal, lung and prostate-in Ontario. The overarching objective was to examine the costs for cancer-related medications and radiation treatment in the first year after diagnosis. Secondary objectives were to compare the costs for cancer-related medications and radiation treatment between patients with different stages of cancer at the time of diagnosis, within the same type of cancer and by cancer subtype, and between patients diagnosed with different types of cancer, across different stages and by cancer subtype.

A population-based comparison of treatment, resource utilization, and costs by cancer stage for Ontario patients with HER2-positive breast cancer

“…Considering methodological differences and variability in health care systems internationally or even inter-provincially, comparing absolute costs between studies is impractical [38]. However, it is important to note that some cancer types show a similar trend of increased expense with later stage disease [39][40][41], while others do not [42,43]. In addition, the contributing factors (e.g., hospitalization, medication, etc.)…”

Developing the Breast Utility Instrument, a preference-based instrument to measure health-related quality of life in women with breast cancer: Confirmatory factor analysis of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and BR45 to establish dimensions

“…Breast cancer (BrC) is the most common cancer, diagnosed in one in eight women during her lifetime [1], with one of the highest per-patient health system costs [2]. Treatments have increased progression-free and overall survival [3][4][5], however, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is another important outcome in BrC [6].…”

Overall Health Care Cost During the Year Following Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer Stratified by History of Colorectal Evaluative Procedures

“…For cases diagnosed in 2009, de Oliveira et al ( 11 ) estimated the mean cost per case to be $37,015 in 2009 Canadian dollars, and subsequently stratified costs for the 2009 cohort by phase of disease ( 14 ). Mittmann et al ( 13 ) estimated the costs of home care for cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed between 2005 and 2009, and the costs of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cases diagnosed between 2010 and 2015 ( 16 ). However, we are unaware of any prior publications from Ontario or any other jurisdiction stratifying health care costs after diagnosis of CRC by the presence or absence of a history of colorectal evaluative procedures during Period 1, or stratified by any other factor related to exposure to colorectal screening.…”