Relationship between dose schedule and charges for treatment on National Wilms' Tumor Study-4. A report from the National Wilms' Tumor Study Group.

National Wilms' Tumor Study-4 was designed to evaluate the efficacy, toxicity, and cost of administration of different regimens for the treatment of Wilms' tumor. The charges for treatment with dactinomycin and doxorubicin administered by two different schedules were calculated using current charges in Buffalo, N.Y. An annual savings of approximately $779,259 could be achieved by the use of the short, pulse-intensive (i.e., single-dose) treatment regimens for all children with Wilms' tumor of stages I-IV/favorable histology. The pulse-intensive administration schedule for the treatment of children with Wilms' tumor permits administration of chemotherapy at a substantially lower total treatment cost.