Objective: To address the knowledge gap regarding medical care costs for advanced cancer patients, we compared costs for recurrent versus de novo stage IV breast, colorectal, and lung cancer patients.
Data sources/study setting: Virtual Data Warehouse (VDW) information from three Kaiser Permanente regions: Colorado, Northwest, and Washington.
Study design: We identified patients aged ≥21 with de novo or recurrent breast (nde novo = 352; nrecurrent = 765), colorectal (nde novo = 1,072; nrecurrent = 542), and lung (nde novo = 4,041; nrecurrent = 340) cancers diagnosed 2000-2012. We estimated average total monthly and annual costs in the 12 months preceding, month of, and 12 months following the index de novo/recurrence date, stratified by age at diagnosis (<65, ≥65). Generalized linear repeated-measures models controlled for demographics and comorbidity.
Principal findings: In the pre-index period, monthly costs were higher for recurrent than for de novo breast (<65: +$2,431; ≥65: +$1,360), colorectal (<65: +$3,219; ≥65: +$2,247), and lung cancer (<65: +$3,086; ≥65: +$2,260) patients. Conversely, during the index and post-index periods, costs were higher for de novo patients. Average total annual pre-index costs were five- to ninefold higher for recurrent versus de novo patients <65.
Conclusions: Cost differences by type of advanced cancer and by age suggest heterogeneous patterns of care that merit further investigation.
Keywords: Medical care costs; advanced cancer.
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