Cost Differential of Chemotherapy for Solid Tumors.

PURPOSE: A significant portion of national cancer expenditure is attributed to chemotherapy.Although the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has generated recommendations for the treatment of various solid tumors, the outlined chemotherapeutic strategies lack information about the cost differential for increasing effectiveness. METHODS: Chemotherapy regimens (curative [adjuvant/neoadjuvant] and metastatic therapy) and dosages outlined in the 2013 National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines were acquired for four common cancers: bladder, breast, colon, and lung. Baseline drug and treatment costs (in US dollars)were calculated for the average US adult male on the basis of the payment allowance in the 2013 Medicare Part B average sales price (ASP) drug pricing files. Costs were extrapolated for a treatment period of 6 months. RESULTS: Of the 62 regimens included, the 6-month mean cost of chemotherapy was $26,989 ± $29,971, and the median cost was $9,611 (interquartile range, $6,305-$39,383). The mean cost of metastatic cancer therapy regimens (n = 32) was $35,315 ± 32,962 compared with $18,107 ± 23,873 for curative therapy (P = .02). Of the 13 regimens with biologics used, the mean costs were $77,278 versus $13,646 for 49 regimens that did not use biologics (P<.001). The cost differential between extremes of costs for regimens with presumed similar efficacy was $90,843 ($79,165 for curative therapy and $90,210 for metastatic cancer therapy). The highest cost differential was noted in breast cancer regimens at $71,041 for metastatic cancer therapy and $63,926 for curative therapy. CONCLUSION: A significant cost differential exists between chemotherapeutic regimens for the most common solid tumors. Incorporation of costs and incremental effectiveness in current guidelines may encourage socially responsible practice patterns.

[Analysis of budgetary impact of moderate and high risk non muscle-invasive bladder cancer by means of neoadjuvant hyperthermia chemotherapy compared to the standard adjuvant treatment with BCG]. / Análisis del impacto presupuedtario del tratamiento mediante quimiohipertermia neoadyuvante en el cáncer vesical no muúculo invasive.

OBJECTIVES: To study the relationship between cost-effectiveness and budgetary impact the application of a neoadjuvant chemo-hyperthermia treatment on 15 patients with NMI multi-recurrent bladder cancer and/or whose risk of recurrence and progression is medium-high, compared with the standard neoadjuvant BCG treatment, has had on the Hospital Comarcal de Monforte de Lemos (Lugo). METHODS: A model was designed from an SNS perspective with a temporary horizon of three years to compare the costs of applying neoadjuvant chemo-hyperthermia on the patients of the clinical test (8 instillations weekly of 80 mg Mitomycin C recirculating at 43 C for an hour prior to carrying out a transurethral resection of the bladder tumor) with the costs of treating 15 patients with the same risk profile with the standard adjuvant treatment of BCG (control group). The effective available costs corresponding to drugs, disposables and those relative to TURBT, cold biopsy and tumor relapse were included. The costs of diagnostic tests and follow-up were discarded from the model because they did not vary between groups. RESULTS: The model built with effective and published cost data establishes a favourable difference in favour of the neoadjuvant treatment with chemo hyperthermia in terms of 3 year costs with a minimum global savings of 10,300€ and 687€ per patient, together with an improvement in the effectiveness of the treatment. These values could reach a minimum savings of 25,960€ and 1,731€ per patient, if a change in protocol is made after the neoadjuvant treatment, which uses the cold biopsy to check the results. Of the 15 patients pre-treated with chemo-hyperthermia, 11 high-risk and 4 medium-risk, 9 have responded completely (absence of residual tumor) and 6 partially (shrinking of the tumor). The number of expected relapses has been reduced from 8 to 2 and progression from 3 to 0. CONCLUSIONS: The neoadjuvant treatment with chemo hyperthermia constitutes a cost-effective therapeutic strategy.

The burden of bladder cancer care: direct and indirect costs.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Bladder cancer is a common, complex, and costly disease. Every year in the USA, bladder cancer is responsible for 70 ,000 diagnosed cases and over 15, 000 deaths. Once diagnosed, patients with nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) are committed to a lifetime of invasive procedures and potential hospitalizations that result in substantial direct and indirect costs. RECENT FINDINGS: Bladder cancer is the most costly cancer among the elderly, estimated at nearly $4 billion per year, and has the highest cost of any cancer when categorized on a per patient basis. The direct economic cost of NMIBC is fueled by the need for lifelong cystoscopic examination and variations in treatment algorithms. This fiscal burden is further compounded by the indirect impact on psychological health and quality of life of patients and their families. Despite the development of new technologies, such as novel urinary biomarkers and innovative cystoscopic methods, no alternative to cystoscopic surveillance has been established. SUMMARY: The management of patients with NMIBC is responsible for a substantial financial burden with indirect costs that extend beyond quantifiable direct costs.

[Direct health care costs of lung and bladder cancer attributable to work. Spain, 2008]. / Costes sanitarios directos de las neoplasias de pulmón y vejiga de origen laboral en España en 2008.

BACKGROUND: The lack of recognition of the occupational etiology of some malignant tumors implies that the cost of their health care rests in the National Health System. The aim of our study is to estimate the job-related lung and bladder cancer in Spain in 2008 treated by the National Health System (NHS), as well as the medical costs derived from its treatment in the same year. METHODS: Literature estimates of Attributable Fractions due to work were used to estimate the job-related cases treated. Medical costs for specialised care (outpatient and hospital admissions) are derived from the NHS cost accounts. Costs due to primary health care and pharmaceutical benefits are obtained from secondary sources. Figures were computed according to disease and sex. RESULTS: A total of 10,652 NHS hospital discharges in 2008 were due to lung cancer and bladder cancer attributable to work (only 16 were recognized as professional the same year). The treatment of these cases cost to the NHS in 2008 almost 88 million euros, of which 61.2 million belong to lung cancer and 26.5 to the bladder. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of lung and bladder cancer attributable to work in Spain is much higher than reflected in the official Registry of Occupational Diseases. It should be recognized as professional to activate appropriate prevention policies. The related health care expenditure, which is financed by the NHS, is quite significant.

Bladder cancer: chemoprevention, complementary approaches and budgetary considerations.

Bladder cancer results from complex and only partially understood host-environmental interactions. Tobacco smoking is the greatest risk factor for bladder cancer, but the actual risk to an individual reflects not only the amount of exposure to the carcinogens in tobacco smoke but also host susceptibility to these carcinogens and possibly other factors. Lifestyle may have a significant effect on the incidence of this disease. The forms of chemoprevention and their relevance to bladder cancer, the impact of lifestyle and complementary medicine, and the costs of diagnosing and treating bladder cancer are reviewed to provide a base for advances in decreasing the incidence, recurrence and costs of this disease.

The use of local anesthesia with N-DO injector (Physion) for transurethral resection (TUR) of bladder tumors and bladder mapping: preliminary results and cost-effectiveness analysis.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated feasibility of TUR of Ta-T1 TCC of the bladder or bladder mapping under local anesthesia using a Physion endoinjector to see if correct tumor staging was possible, to check patient tolerability, and to analyze cost-effectiveness. METHODS: Thirty patients with bladder tumors and 10 patients with hematuria and/or doubtful cytologies were treated in a day hospital setting. TUR or biopsies were performed after injecting lidocaine into the outer area of the lesion in the bladder at 2-3 sites under the mucosa. A single injection per biopsy site was necessary for bladder mapping. We evaluated tolerability using the VAS questionnaire. Cost analysis considered length of hospital stay, number of anesthesiological procedures, and complications. RESULTS: The stage and grade after TUR were 19 TaG1-2, 10 T1G2, and 1 papillary hyperplasia. After bladder mapping, 5 patients had CIS and 5 had inflammation. Sixty percent of patients had no or mild pain, 30% moderate pain requiring light sedation or analgesia, and 10% severe pain requiring spinal or general anesthesia. The mean hospital stay was 9h. Four of 40 patients complained of macroscopic hematuria; one was readmitted to the ward. This procedure saved 1097.07 euros per case and 36 anesthesiological procedures were avoided. CONCLUSIONS: This is a simple, safe, cost-effective technique, allowing TUR of bladder tumors and bladder mapping in 60% of patients and, with light sedation or analgesia, in 90% of patients, with a low complication rate. Tumor staging was correct in 90% of cases. The mean hospital stay was 9h.

Clinical model of lifetime cost of treating bladder cancer and associated complications.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the lifetime cost of bladder cancer and the contribution of complications to the total costs. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of a retrospective cohort of 208 patients with bladder cancer who registered at our comprehensive cancer center from 1991 to 1999. We multiplied the number of resources used during management of bladder cancer by their unit charges. We converted charges into costs using the Medicare cost-to-charge ratio and inflated these to 2005 U.S. dollars. We estimated future costs by creating two extreme hypothetical scenarios. In the best-case scenario, we assumed patients with superficial disease developed recurrences at the cohort's mean rate and that patients with muscle-invasive disease were disease free after definitive therapy. Survival was based on the U.S. life expectancy in both cases. In the worst-case scenario, we assumed patients with superficial disease developed muscle-invasive disease and that all patients subsequently died of bladder cancer. RESULTS: The average cost of bladder cancer was 65,158 dollars among the cohort patients. Sixty percent of this cost (39,393 dollars) was associated with surveillance and treatment of recurrences, and 30% (19,811 dollars) was attributable to complications. The lifetime cost of bladder cancer was lower for the worst-case scenario (99,270 dollars) than for the best-case scenario (120,684 dollars). However, a greater proportion of the costs were attributable to complications with the worst-case scenario (43%, 42,290 dollars) compared with the best (28%, 34,169 dollars). CONCLUSIONS: The management of bladder cancer and its associated complications results in a major economic burden. More cost-effective surveillance strategies and approaches for preventing complications are crucial to minimizing the disease's clinical and economic consequences.

Reducing recurrence and costs in superficial bladder cancer: preclinical evaluation of osmotic cytolysis by distilled water vs. mitomycin.

Transurethral resection followed by instillation of chemotherapeutic agents such as mitomycin is considered as standard therapy in recurrent superficial bladder cancer. However, incidence of bladder cancer is increasing, and contrariwise resources to finance the health care systems are decreasing. Therefore, effective alternatives to expensive chemotherapeutics are necessary. Recurrence of bladder cancer after transurethral resection is mostly promoted by reimplantation of dissolved tumour cells which are therapeutical purpose of any intravesically instillated agent. Monolayer cultures of human RT112, RT4, T24 and TCC SUP bladder cancer cells were incubated and exposed to mitomycin or distilled water. Cell survival was determined by microculture tetrazolium assay. Distilled water led to significant cytolysis in all tumour cells. This effect was comparable to exposition to mitomycin. Distilled water and mitomycin have comparable in vitro effects in bladder cancer cells. These findings have to be substantiated by an animal model emphasising the aspect of larger tumour cell compounds or possible damage to healthy bladder tissue.

Holmium:YAG laser vaporization of recurrent papillary tumours of the bladder under local anaesthesia.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate holmium:YAG laser vaporization of papillary tumours of the bladder, focusing on surgical technique, patients' satisfaction, complications and cost-effectiveness when using the technique under local anaesthesia as an outpatient procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 52 consecutive patients with recurrent papillary tumours of the bladder were scheduled for holmium:YAG laser vaporization under local anaesthesia using a flexible cystoscope. The number of papillomas and total operative duration was recorded. Patients and surgeons were asked to complete a questionnaire about the procedure. RESULTS: In all, 197 papillomas were successfully vaporized in 88 operations, with a median operative duration of 15 min (5 min per papilloma) and no patient needed treatment under general anaesthesia. Most patients (86%) had no pain (as reported during standard cystoscopy) and none of the procedures was stopped because of pain. All patients would undergo the treatment again, compared with a standard transurethral resection of bladder tumour. The five surgeons rated the procedure as easy in most patients (78%) and difficult in a few (6%). The total cost for the outpatient procedure was less than that for standard treatment. CONCLUSION: This study clearly indicates that holmium:YAG laser vaporization of superficial bladder tumours is feasible, easy and fast, with a high degree of patient satisfaction, and it seems to be an attractive alternative to standard treatment. The procedure has some clear positive socio-economic perspectives in both the short- and long-term.

The cost of bladder tumour treatment and follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the costs of bladder tumour treatment and follow-up. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The incidence of bladder tumours, both new and recurrences, and the cost of bladder tumour treatments with curative intent were registered during a 4-year period (1994-97). RESULTS: The incidence of new tumours varied from year to year, in contrast to the number of recurrent tumours, which remained remarkably stable. The total cost of bladder cancer diagnosis, treatment and follow-up was almost 7,000,000 SEK per year (2,800,000 SEK per 100,000 inhabitants per year). The number of therapeutic events per year remained stable at 256 +/- 17 (102 per 100,000 inhabitants per year). Cystectomies were responsible for 34% of the expenditure and transurethral procedures for 40%. Follow-up cystoscopies accounted for only 13% of the total cost. One-third of the routine follow-up cystoscopies resulted in a therapeutic procedure. The cost of transurethral resections and extirpations was approximately five times higher when performed with the patient hospitalized compared to when performed as day-care surgery. CONCLUSIONS: A reduction in the number of follow-up cystoscopies will only produce marginal economic savings. Further savings could be made if more transurethral resections and extirpations/fulgurations were performed on an outpatient basis. Another important goal is to reduce the median cost per cystectomy.