Estimating Breast Cancer Overdiagnosis After Screening Mammography Among Older Women in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Overdiagnosis is increasingly recognized as a harm of breast cancer screening, particularly for older women. OBJECTIVE: To estimate overdiagnosis associated with breast cancer screening among older women by age. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study comparing the cumulative incidence of breast cancer among older women who continued screening in the next interval with those who did not. Analyses used competing risk models, stratified by age. SETTING: Fee-for-service Medicare claims, linked to the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) program. PATIENTS: Women 70 years and older who had been recently screened. MEASUREMENTS: Breast cancer diagnoses and breast cancer death for up to 15 years of follow-up. RESULTS: This study included 54 635 women. Among women aged 70 to 74 years, the adjusted cumulative incidence of breast cancer was 6.1 cases (95% CI, 5.7 to 6.4) per 100 screened women versus 4.2 cases (CI, 3.5 to 5.0) per 100 unscreened women. An estimated 31% of breast cancer among screened women were potentially overdiagnosed. For women aged 75 to 84 years, cumulative incidence was 4.9 (CI, 4.6 to 5.2) per 100 screened women versus 2.6 (CI, 2.2 to 3.0) per 100 unscreened women, with 47% of cases potentially overdiagnosed. For women aged 85 and older, the cumulative incidence was 2.8 (CI, 2.3 to 3.4) among screened women versus 1.3 (CI, 0.9 to 1.9) among those not, with up to 54% overdiagnosis. We did not see statistically significant reductions in breast cancer-specific death associated with screening. LIMITATIONS: This study was designed to estimate overdiagnosis, limiting our ability to draw conclusions on all benefits and harms of screening. Unmeasured differences in risk for breast cancer and differential competing mortality between screened and unscreened women may confound results. Results were sensitive to model specifications and definition of a screening mammogram. CONCLUSION: Continued breast cancer screening was associated with greater incidence of breast cancer, suggesting overdiagnosis may be common among older women who are diagnosed with breast cancer after screening. Whether harms of overdiagnosis are balanced by benefits and for whom remains an important question. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Cancer Institute.

Genetic testing in privately insured women with surgically treated breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Rates of BRCA1 and BRCA2 prevalence among women with breast cancer vary by age, hormone receptor status, and family history. Recommendations for genetic testing have varied between overlapping guidelines, payor coverage policies, and have evolved over time, resulting in unclear implications for adoption into routine breast cancer care. METHODS: Using a large, private insurer database, we examined rates of BRCA1/BRCA2 genetic testing in women with newly diagnosed invasive breast cancer undergoing surgery from 2015 through 2019. RESULTS: Testing increased among women 50 years or older from 26 to 38%, remained stable at 66% in both 2015 and 2019 in the under 50 population, and was slightly decreased in women under age 45 years. CONCLUSION: Among privately insured patients with breast cancer, rates are increasing in older women, but appear persistently underused in younger women.

Comparative Effectiveness of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis and Mammography in Older Women.

BACKGROUND: Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) has become a prevalent mode of breast cancer screening in recent years. Although older women are commonly screened for breast cancer, little is known about screening outcomes using DBT among older women. OBJECTIVE: To assess proximal screening outcomes with DBT compared to traditional two-dimensional(2-D) mammography among women 67-74 and women 75 and older. DESIGN: Cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 67 years and older with no history of prior cancer who received a screening mammogram in 2015. MAIN MEASURES: Use of subsequent imaging (ultrasound and diagnostic mammography) as an indication of recall, breast cancer detection, and characteristics of breast cancer at the time of diagnosis. Analyses used weighted logistic regression to adjust for potential confounders. KEY RESULTS: Our study included 26,406 women aged 67-74 and 17,001 women 75 and older who were screened for breast cancer. Among women 75 and older, the rate of subsequent imaging among women screened with DBT did not differ significantly from 2-D mammography (91.8 versus 97.0 per 1,000 screening mammograms, p=0.37). In this age group, DBT was associated with 2.1 additional cancers detected per 1,000 screening mammograms compared to 2D (11.5 versus 9.4, p=0.003), though these additional cancers were almost exclusively in situ and stage I invasive cancers. For women 67-74 years old, DBT was associated with a higher rate of subsequent imaging than 2-D mammography (113.9 versus 100.3, p=0.004) and a higher rate of stage I invasive cancer detection (4.7 versus 3.7, p=0.002), but not other stages. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer screening with DBT was not associated with lower rates of subsequent imaging among older women. Most additional cancers detected with DBT were early stage. Whether detecting these additional early-stage cancers among older women improves health outcomes remains uncertain.

Understanding Regional Variation in the Cost of Breast Cancer Screening Among Privately Insured Women in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer screening for women aged 40-49 years is prevalent and costly, with costs varying substantially across US regions. Newer approaches to mammography may improve cancer detection but also increase screening costs. We assessed factors associated with regional variation in screening costs. METHODS: We used Blue Cross Blue Shield Axis, a large US commercial claims database accessed through secure portal, to assess regional variation in screening utilization and costs. We included screening mammography±digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), screening ultrasound, diagnostic mammography±DBT, diagnostic ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy, and evaluated their utilization and costs. We assessed regional variation in annual per-screened-beneficiary costs and examined potential savings from reducing regional variation. RESULTS: Of the 2,257,393 privately insured women, 41.2% received screening mammography in 2017 (range: 26.6%-54.2% across regions). Wide regional variation was found in the DBT proportion (0.7%-91.1%) and mean costs of DBT ($299; range: $113-714) and 2-dimensional (D) mammograms ($213; range: $107-471). In one-fourth of the regions, the mean DBT cost was lower than the mean 2D mammography cost in the full sample. Regional variation in the per-screened-beneficiary cost (mean: $353; range: $151-751) was mainly attributable to variation in the cost of DBT (accounting for 23.4% of regional variation) and 2D mammography (23.0%). Reducing regional variation by decreasing the highest values to the national mean was projected to save $79-335 million annually. CONCLUSIONS: The mean mammogram cost for privately insured women ages 40-49 varies 7-fold across regions, driving substantial variation in breast cancer screening costs. Reducing this regional variation would substantially decrease the screening costs.

Measuring Exposure to Incarceration Using the Electronic Health Record.

BACKGROUND: Electronic health records (EHRs) are a rich source of health information; however social determinants of health, including incarceration, and how they impact health and health care disparities can be hard to extract. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to compare sensitivity and specificity of patient self-report with various methods of identifying incarceration exposure using the EHR. RESEARCH DESIGN: Validation study using multiple data sources and types. SUBJECTS: Participants of the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS), a national observational cohort based on data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) EHR that includes all human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in care (47,805) and uninfected patients (99,060) matched on region, age, race/ethnicity, and sex. MEASURES AND DATA SOURCES: Self-reported incarceration history compared with: (1) linked VHA EHR data to administrative data from a state Department of Correction (DOC), (2) linked VHA EHR data to administrative data on incarceration from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), (3) VHA EHR-specific identifier codes indicative of receipt of VHA incarceration reentry services, and (4) natural language processing (NLP) in unstructured text in VHA EHR. RESULTS: Linking the EHR to DOC data: sensitivity 2.5%, specificity 100%; linking the EHR to CMS data: sensitivity 7.9%, specificity 99.3%; VHA EHR-specific identifier for receipt of reentry services: sensitivity 7.3%, specificity 98.9%; and NLP, sensitivity 63.5%, specificity 95.9%. CONCLUSIONS: NLP tools hold promise as a feasible and valid method to identify individuals with exposure to incarceration in EHR. Future work should expand this approach using a larger body of documents and refinement of the methods, which may further improve operating characteristics of this method.

Associations of preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging with subsequent mastectomy and breast cancer mortality.

PURPOSE: To examine associations between pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) use and clinical outcomes among women undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with or without radiotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. METHODS: We identified women from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare dataset aged 67-94 diagnosed during 2004-2010 with stage I/II breast cancer who received BCS. We compared subsequent mastectomy and breast cancer mortality with versus without pre-operative MRI, using Cox regression and competing risks models. We further stratified by receipt of radiotherapy for subgroup analyses. RESULTS: Our sample consisted of 24,379 beneficiaries, 4691 (19.2%) of whom received pre-operative MRI. Adjusted rates of subsequent mastectomy and breast cancer mortality were not significantly different with and without MRI: 3.2 versus 4.1 per 1000 person-years [adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 0.92; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.70-1.19] and 5.3 versus 8.7 per 1000 person-years (AHR 0.89; 95% CI 0.73-1.08), respectively. In subgroup analyses, women receiving BCS plus radiotherapy had similar rates of subsequent mastectomy (AHR 1.17; 95% CI 0.84-1.61) and breast cancer mortality (AHR 1.00; 95% CI 0.80-1.24) with versus without MRI. However, among women receiving BCS alone, MRI use was associated with lower risks of subsequent mastectomy (AHR 0.60; 95% CI 0.37-0.98) and breast cancer mortality (AHR 0.57; 95% CI 0.36-0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-operative MRI was associated with improved outcomes among older women with breast cancer receiving BCS alone, but not among those receiving BCS plus radiotherapy. Further research is needed to identify appropriate settings for which MRI may be helpful.

Associations Between Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and Complications for Patients with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.

PURPOSE: To examine the associations between sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and complications among older patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS) for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). METHODS: We identified women from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare dataset aged 67-94 years diagnosed during 1998-2011 with DCIS who underwent BCS as initial treatment. We assessed incidence of complications, including lymphedema, wound infection, seroma, or pain, within 9 months of diagnosis. We used Mahalanobis matching and generalized linear models to estimate the associations between SLNB and complications. RESULTS: Our sample consisted of 15,515 beneficiaries, 2409 (15.5%) of whom received SLNB. Overall, 16.8% of women who received SLNB had complications, compared with 11.3% of women who did not receive SLNB (p < 0.001). Use of SLNB was associated with subsequent mastectomy but not radiotherapy. Multivariate analyses of the matched sample showed that, compared with no SLNB, SLNB use was significantly associated with incidence of any complication [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.39; 99% confidence interval (CI) 1.18-1.63], lymphedema (AOR 4.45; 99% CI 2.27-8.75), wound infection (AOR 1.24; 99% CI 1.00-1.54), seroma (AOR 1.40; 99% CI 1.03-1.91), and pain (AOR 1.31; 99% CI 1.04-1.65). Sensitivity analyses excluding patients who underwent mastectomy yielded qualitatively similar results regarding the associations between SLNB and complications. CONCLUSIONS: Among older women with DCIS who received BCS, SLNB use was associated with higher risks of short-term complications. These findings support consensus guidelines recommending against SLNB for this population and provide empirical information for patients.

Hypomethylating agent therapy use and survival in older patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia in the United States: A large population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Despite the approval of azacitidine in 2004 and the approval of decitabine in 2006 in the United States for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), the overall survival (OS) benefit with hypomethylating agent (HMA) therapy is unclear. METHODS: Older adults (age ≥ 66 years) who had been diagnosed with CMML from 2001 to 2011 were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database, and propensity score matching was used to match patients who had been diagnosed after HMA approval (2007-2011) and had received HMA treatment with patients diagnosed before HMA approval (2001-2003). Cox proportional hazards models with the matched sample were used to assess the change in OS. A second matched cohort of patients who did not receive HMA after approval and patients diagnosed before HMA approval was used to evaluate survival change attributable to other potential differences between the 2 time periods, such as improved supportive care. RESULTS: Among 1378 older adults diagnosed with CMML, the median OS was 13 months, and 18.8% received HMAs. In the primary matched analysis, with 225 HMA users diagnosed in 2007-2011 and 395 patients diagnosed in 2001-2003, the median OS times were 17 and 11 months, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-0.91; P = .005). In a secondary analysis, the risk of death did not differ between 395 propensity score-matched HMA nonusers diagnosed in 2007-2011 and 484 patients diagnosed in 2001-2003 (hazard ratio, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.91-1.32; P = .34). CONCLUSIONS: Despite limited evidence, HMAs are commonly used to treat older CMML patients. The use of HMAs was associated with a 28% reduction in the risk of death in adjusted analyses. Improvements in supportive care do not appear to account for temporal improvements in OS. Cancer 2017;123:3754-3762. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Regional Medicare Expenditures and Survival Among Older Women With Localized Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence on large variation in breast cancer expenditures across geographic regions, there is little understanding about the association between expenditures and patient outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To examine whether Medicare beneficiaries with nonmetastatic breast cancer living in regions with higher cancer-related expenditures had better survival. RESEARCH DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study of women with localized breast cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare linked database. Hospital referral regions (HRR) were categorized into quintiles based on risk-standardized per patient Medicare expenditures on initial phase of breast cancer care. Hierarchical generalized linear models were estimated to examine the association between patients' HRR quintile and survival. SUBJECTS: In total, 12,610 Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with stage II-III breast cancer during 2005-2008 who underwent surgery. MEASURES: Outcome measures for our analysis were 3- and 5-year overall survival. RESULTS: Risk-standardized per patient Medicare expenditures on initial phase of breast cancer care ranged from $13,338 to $26,831 across the HRRs. Unadjusted 3- and 5-year survival varied from 66.7% to 92.2% and 50.0% to 84.0%, respectively, across the HRRs, but there was no significant association between HRR quintile and survival in bivariate analysis (P=0.08 and 0.28, respectively). After adjustment for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, quintiles of regional cancer expenditures remained unassociated with patients' 3-year (P=0.35) and 5-year survival (P=0.20). Further analysis adjusting for treatment factors (surgery type and receipt of radiation and systemic therapy) and stratifying by cancer stage showed similar results. CONCLUSIONS: For Medicare beneficiaries with nonmetastatic breast cancer, residence in regions with higher breast cancer-related expenditures was not associated with better survival. More attention to value in breast cancer care is warranted.

Comparative clinical effectiveness of azacitidine versus decitabine in older patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

The hypomethylating agents (HMAs) azacitidine and decitabine are both approved for treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) in the USA. In Europe, decitabine is not approved due to lack of survival advantage in randomized trials. The two drugs have not been compared in clinical trials. We identified patients diagnosed with MDS between 2004 and 2011 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database in the USA who received ≥ 10 doses of either HMA. We estimated survival from HMA initiation with Kaplan-Meier methods and used multivariate Cox proportional hazards models to adjust for covariates. Analyses controlled for histological subtype and we conducted a subset analysis limited to patients with refractory anaemia with excess blasts (RAEB). In 2025 HMA-treated patients, median survival was 15 months with no difference in survival based on the HMA received in adjusted analysis (decitabine versus azacitidine, hazard ratio = 1·06, 95% confidence interval: 0·94-1·19, P = 0·37). For RAEB patients (n = 523), median survival was 12 months, with no significant difference based on HMA received. No significant survival difference was found between azacitidine and decitabine in patients with MDS, including RAEB. Importantly, population-based survival of azacitidine-treated RAEB patients was substantially shorter than in the AZA-001 clinical trial (11 versus 24·5 months).

Preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging and contralateral breast cancer occurrence among older women with ductal carcinoma in situ.

Although preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect mammographically occult contralateral breast cancers (CBCs) among women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the impact of MRI on the incidence of subsequent CBC events is unclear. We examined whether MRI use decreases CBC occurrences and detection of invasive disease among women who develop a CBC. Utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare dataset, we assessed overall, synchronous (<6 months after primary cancer diagnosis), and subsequent (≥6 months after diagnosis, i.e., metachronous) CBC occurrence in women aged 67-94 years diagnosed with DCIS during 2004-2009, with follow-up through 2011. We applied a matched propensity score approach to compare the stage-specific incidence rate of CBC according to MRI use. Our sample consisted of 9166 beneficiaries, 1258 (13.7 %) of whom received preoperative MRI. After propensity score matching, preoperative MRI use was significantly associated with a higher synchronous CBC detection rate (108.6 vs. 29.7 per 1000 person-years; hazard ratio [HR] = 3.65; p < .001) with no significant differences in subsequent CBC rate (6.7 vs. 6.8 per 1000 person-years; HR = 0.90; p = .71). The 6-year cumulative incidence of any CBC (in situ plus invasive) remained significantly higher among women undergoing MRI, compared with those not undergoing MRI (9 vs. 4 %, p < .001). Women undergoing MRI also had a higher incidence of invasive CBC (4 vs. 3 %, p = .04). MRI use resulted in an increased detection of synchronous CBC but did not prevent subsequent CBC occurrence, suggesting that many of the undetected CBC lesions may not become clinically evident.

Risk of Vascular Toxicity with Platinum Based Chemotherapy in Elderly Patients with Bladder Cancer.

PURPOSE: Platinum based chemotherapy is widely used for bladder cancer but is associated with vascular toxicity, especially thromboembolism. We evaluated the short-term (less than 1 year) and intermediate-term (2 to 5 years) vascular toxicity of platinum agents in older patients with bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified Medicare beneficiaries 66 to 94 years old diagnosed with stage II-III bladder cancer from 1998 to 2007 in the SEER-Medicare database. We measured the association between platinum based chemotherapy and vascular events (thromboembolic and nonthromboembolic) using Cox proportional hazard regression models. RESULTS: The sample included 5,057 patients, of whom 21.3% received platinum based chemotherapy. Patients receiving platinum based chemotherapy were more likely to be younger and male with less comorbidity than those not receiving any chemotherapy. During the first year after diagnosis the patients who received platinum based chemotherapy had a higher risk of a thromboembolic event (19.8% vs 11.6%, AHR 1.43, 95% CI 1.17-1.75) compared to those who did not receive chemotherapy. The likelihood of having a thromboembolic outcome was similar whether platinum chemotherapy was cisplatin based (21.1%, AHR 1.56, 95% CI 1.22-2.00) or carboplatin based (18.9%, AHR 1.35, 95% CI 1.07-1.71). During years 2 to 5 after diagnosis there was no significant association between platinum chemotherapy and the risk of thromboembolic events. The risk of nonthromboembolic vascular events was not increased with platinum chemotherapy in either period. CONCLUSIONS: Patients receiving platinum based chemotherapy were at higher risk for thromboembolism but not other vascular events, particularly in the first year after diagnosis. This risk of thromboembolism is similar for cisplatin and carboplatin.

Incarceration History and Uncontrolled Blood Pressure in a Multi-Site Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Incarceration is associated with increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease mortality. We used data from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) to explore the impact of incarceration on blood pressure (BP) control. METHODS: Among hypertensive VACS participants, we measured the association between self-reported recent incarceration or past (not recent) history of incarceration and BP control in the year following the survey. To analyze the association between incarceration and BP control, we used logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, clinical factors (HIV status and body mass index), and behavioral factors (history of smoking, unhealthy alcohol use, illicit drug use). We explored potential mediators including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, primary care engagement, and adherence to antihypertensive medications. RESULTS: Among the 3515 eligible VACS participants, 2304 participants met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 163 (7 %) reported recent incarceration, and 904 (39 %) reported a past history of incarceration. Participants with recent or past history of incarceration were more likely to have uncontrolled BP than those without a history of incarceration (67 % vs. 56 % vs. 51 %, p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, recent incarceration (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.57 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-2.26), but not a past history of incarceration (AOR = 1.08 95 % CI: 0.90-1.30), was associated with uncontrolled BP compared with those who were never incarcerated. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with a history of hypertension, recent incarceration is associated with having uncontrolled BP following release. Interventions are needed for recently released individuals to improve hypertension outcomes.

Associations Between End-of-Life Cancer Care Patterns and Medicare Expenditures.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which patterns of intensive end-of-life care explain geographic variation in end-of-life care expenditures among cancer decedents. METHODS: Using the SEER-Medicare database, we identified 90,465 decedents who were diagnosed with cancer in 2004-2011. Measures of intensive end-of-life care included chemotherapy received within 14 days of death; more than 1 emergency department visit, more than 1 hospitalization, or 1 or more intensive care unit (ICU) admissions within 30 days of death; in-hospital death; and hospice enrollment less than 3 days before death. Using hierarchical generalized linear models, we estimated risk-adjusted expenditures in the last month of life for each hospital referral region and identified key contributors to variation in expenditures. RESULTS: The mean expenditure per cancer decedent in the last month of life was $10,800, ranging from $8,300 to $15,400 in the lowest and highest expenditure quintile areas, respectively. There was considerable variation in the percentage of decedents receiving intensive end-of-life care intervention, with 41.7% of decedents receiving intensive care in the lowest quintile of expenditures versus 57.9% in the highest quintile. Regional patterns of late chemotherapy or late hospice use explained only approximately 1% of the expenditure difference between the highest and lowest quintile areas. In contrast, the proportion of decedents who had ICU admissions within 30 days of death was a major driver of variation, explaining 37.6% of the expenditure difference. CONCLUSIONS: Promoting appropriate end-of-life care has the potential to reduce geographic variation in end-of-life care expenditures.

Incarceration and health outcomes in HIV-infected patients: the impact of substance use, primary care engagement, and antiretroviral adherence.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: One in seven HIV-infected individuals is incarcerated each year. We used data from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) to explore the relationship between incarceration and HIV disease outcomes and evaluate potential mediators of this relationship. METHODS: HIV disease outcomes included: low CD4 counts (<200 cells/mL), detectable viral RNA loads (>500 copies/mL), and the VACS Index score. We performed a mediation analysis among 1,591 HIV-infected patients to examine whether unhealthy alcohol use, drug use, primary care engagement, or antiretroviral adherence mediated observed associations. RESULTS: Among 1,591 HIV-infected patients, 47% reported having a history of incarceration. In multivariate analyses, a history of incarceration was associated with a higher VACS Index score (ß 2.47, 95% CI 0.52-4.43). Mediation analysis revealed that recent drug use attenuated the association by 22% (ß 1.93, 95% CI -0.06, 3.91) while other proposed mediators did not. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Improving access to drug treatment when incarcerated and upon release may be an important target to improving the health of HIV-infected individuals with a history of incarceration. (Am J Addict 2015;24:178-184).

The cost of cancer-related physician services to Medicare.

Although physician services represent a substantial portion of cancer care costs, little is known about trends in the costs of physician cancer services in the fee-for-service Medicare program. We analyzed aggregated data from all Part B Medicare claims for physician and supplier services attributed to cancer patients from 1999 to 2012 to characterize how billing and payments have changed over time for the most common cancer types. Billing and expenditure data are from the Medicare Statistical Supplement, and age-adjusted incidence data are from SEER. Physician services for cancer patients grew from $7.6 billion in 1999 to $12.3 billion in 2012 (60 percent increase). Reimbursements for physician and supplier services for cancer treatment in Medicare Part B beneficiaries steadily grew from 1999 to 2005 and then plateaued through 2012, led by a decrease in reimbursements for prostate cancer care. These trends may reflect shifts toward hospital-based care or changes in aggressiveness of care.

The cost implications of prostate cancer screening in the Medicare population.

BACKGROUND: Recent debate about prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based testing for prostate cancer screening among older men has rarely considered the cost of screening. METHODS: A population-based cohort of male Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 to 99 years, who had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer at the end of 2006 (n = 94,652), was assembled, and they were followed for 3 years to assess the cost of PSA screening and downstream procedures (biopsy, pathologic analysis, and hospitalization due to biopsy complications) at both the national and the hospital referral region (HRR) level. RESULTS: Approximately 51.2% of men received PSA screening tests during the 3-year period, with 2.9% undergoing biopsy. The annual expenditures on prostate cancer screening by the national fee-for-service Medicare program were $447 million in 2009 US dollars. The mean annual screening cost at the HRR level ranged from $17 to $62 per beneficiary. Downstream biopsy-related procedures accounted for 72% of the overall screening costs and varied significantly across regions. Compared with men residing in HRRs that were in the lowest quartile for screening expenditures, men living in the highest HRR quartile were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer of any stage (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07-1.35) and localized cancer (IRR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.15-1.47). The IRR for regional/metastasized cancer was also elevated, although not statistically significant (IRR = 1.31, 95% CI = 0.81-2.11). CONCLUSIONS: Medicare prostate cancer screening-related expenditures are substantial, vary considerably across regions, and are positively associated with rates of cancer diagnosis.

Cardiovascular events, early discontinuation of trastuzumab, and their impact on survival.

To evaluate how often trastuzumab therapy is ended early (i.e., early discontinuation) and how cardiovascular events and early discontinuation affect survival among older women with breast cancer. A population-based cohort of female Medicare beneficiaries with stage I-III breast cancer in 2005-2009 who received trastuzumab was assembled and followed through 2011. Completed trastuzumab treatment was defined as ≥11 months of continuous trastuzumab treatments with no delay between trastuzumab treatments >45 days. We identified trastuzumab-associated cardiovascular events as those occurring within 45 days before or after the last trastuzumab treatment. Using Cox proportional hazard models, we examined the association between early discontinuation of trastuzumab and cardiovascular events on all-cause mortality. Our cohort consisted of 585 women (mean age: 71.6 years). Approximately 41 % of women discontinued trastuzumab therapy early. Patients with early discontinuation of trastuzumab were more likely to have heart failure /cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, and other cardiovascular events than women who completed trastuzumab. Cardiovascular events were strongly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality [adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 3.54; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.87 to 6.68]. Women with early discontinuation of trastuzumab had a non-significant increase in risk of all-cause mortality (AHR: 1.74; 95 % CI 0.94 to 3.23), compared to women who completed trastuzumab. Early trastuzumab discontinuation was common among older patients, and often associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Development of cardiovascular events was associated with a higher mortality risk than early trastuzumab discontinuation, implying that reducing cardiovascular complications from trastuzumab therapy could likely have a substantive impact on overall survival in this population.

Area Vulnerability and Disparities in Therapy for Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Importance: Area-level measures of sociodemographic disadvantage may be associated with racial and ethnic disparities with respect to receipt of treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) but have not been investigated previously, to our knowledge. Objective: To assess the association between area-level measures of social vulnerability and racial and ethnic disparities in the treatment of US Medicare beneficiaries with mRCC from 2015 through 2019. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study included Medicare beneficiaries older than 65 years who were diagnosed with mRCC from January 2015 through December 2019 and were enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare Parts A, B, and D from 1 year before through 1 year after presumed diagnosis or until death. Data were analyzed from November 22, 2022, through January 26, 2024. Exposures: Five different county-level measures of disadvantage and 4 zip code-level measures of vulnerability or deprivation and segregation were used to dichotomize whether an individual resided in the most vulnerable quartile according to each metric. Patient-level factors included age, race and ethnicity, sex, diagnosis year, comorbidities, frailty, Medicare and Medicaid dual enrollment eligibility, and Medicare Part D low-income subsidy (LIS). Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were receipt and type of systemic therapy (oral anticancer agent or immunotherapy from 2 months before to 1 year after diagnosis of mRCC) as a function of patient and area-level characteristics. Multivariable regression analyses were used to adjust for patient factors, and odds ratios (ORs) from logistic regression and relative risk ratios (RRRs) from multinomial logistic regression are reported. Results: The sample included 15 407 patients (mean [SD] age, 75.6 [6.8] years), of whom 9360 (60.8%) were men; 6931 (45.0%), older than 75 years; 93 (0.6%), American Indian or Alaska Native; 257 (1.7%), Asian or Pacific Islander; 757 (4.9%), Hispanic; 1017 (6.6%), non-Hispanic Black; 12 966 (84.2%), non-Hispanic White; 121 (0.8%), other; and 196 (1.3%), unknown. Overall, 8317 patients (54.0%) received some type of systemic therapy. After adjusting for individual factors, no county or zip code-level measures of social vulnerability, deprivation, or segregation were associated with disparities in treatment. In contrast, patient-level factors, including female sex (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.73-0.84) and LIS (OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.36-0.65), were associated with lack of treatment, with particularly limited access to immunotherapy for patients with LIS (RRR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.14-0.43). Associations between individual-level factors and treatment in multivariable analysis were not mediated by the addition of area-level metrics. Disparities by race and ethnicity were consistently and only observed within the most vulnerable areas, as indicated by the top quartile of each vulnerability deprivation index. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of older Medicare patients diagnosed with mRCC, individual-level demographics, including race and ethnicity, sex, and income, were associated with receipt of systemic therapy, whereas area-level measures were not. However, individual-level racial and ethnic disparities were largely limited to socially vulnerable areas, suggesting that efforts to improve racial and ethnic disparities may be most effective when targeted to socially vulnerable areas.