Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-18T02:16:59.635Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Costs of Treating Breast Cancer in the United Kingdom: Implications for Screening

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Jane L. Wolstenholme ,
Sarah J. Smith  and
David K. Whynes
Jane L. Wolstenholme
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
Sarah J. Smith
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
David K. Whynes
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Total treatment costs by stage at diagnosis are estimated for a sample of breast cancer patients. At 4 years, stage 4 cancers emerge as being more expensive to treat than those at earlier stages, although this difference fails to achieve significance when expected lifetime costs are considered. The inclusion of treatment cost estimates in a screening model indicates that screening may increase expected treatment costs by a marginal amount, although the model also suggests that the cost effectiveness ratio of breast cancer screening might be better than had originally been thought.

Type
General Essays
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , Spring 1998 , pp. 277 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Atherton, L.The costs of radiotherapy treatments on a linear accelerator. British Journal of Radiology, 1984, 57, 106–07.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Balch, C. M., Singletary, S. E., & Bland, K. I.Clinical decision making in early breast cancer. Annals of Surgery, 1993, 217, 207–25.Google Scholar
3.Barsky, A. J.The paradox of health. New England Journal of Medicine, 1988, 318, 414–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Baum, M.Breast cancer: the facts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
5.Brown, M. L., & Fintor, L.Cost effectiveness of breast cancer screening: Preliminary results of a systematic review of the literature. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 1993, 25, 113–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Butler, J. R. G., Furnival, C. M., & Hart, R. F. G.Estimating treatment cost functions for progressive diseases: A multiproduct approach with an application to breast cancer. Journal of Health Economics, 1995, 14, 361–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Crisp, W. J., Higgs, M. J., Cowan, W. K., et al. Screening for breast cancer detects tumours at an earlier biological stage. British Journal of Surgery, 1993, 273, 142–47.Google Scholar
8.de Koning, H. J., van Ineveld, B. M., de Haes, J. C. J. M., et al. Advanced breast cancer and its prevention by screening. British Journal of Cancer, 1992, 65, 950–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Department of Health. Breast cancer screening 1991: Evidence and experience since the Forrest Report. Sheffield: NHS Breast Screening Program, 1991.Google Scholar
10.Department of Health and Social Security. Breast cancer screening: Report of a working group (Sir Patrick Forrest, Chairman) to the Health Ministers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland., London: HMSO, 1986.Google Scholar
11.Dixon, J. M., & Mansel, R. E.Symptoms assessment and guidelines for referral. British Medical Journal, 1994, 309, 722–26.Google Scholar
12.Dixon, M., & Sainsbury, R.Handbook of diseases of the breast. Cambridge: Churchill Livingstone, 1993.Google Scholar
13.Finkler, S. A.The distinction between costs and charges. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1982, 96,102–09.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Goddard, M., & Hutton, J.The costs of radiotherapy in cancer treatment. Discussion paper 48. University of York: Centre for Health Economics, 1988.Google Scholar
15.Goddard, M., Maher, E. J., Hutton, J., et al. Palliative radiotherapy: Counting the costs of changing practice. Health Policy, 1991, 17, 243–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Gravelle, H., Simpson, P. R., & Chamberlain, J. O.Breast cancer screening and health service costs. Journal of Health Economics, 1982, 1, 185–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Green, D.The cost of radiotherapy treatments on a linear accelerator. British Journal of Radiology, 1983, 56, 189–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Hill, F., & Oliver, C.Hospice: The cost of inpatient care. Health Trends, 1984,16, 9–11.Google Scholar
19.Jardines, L., Callans, L. S., & Torosian, M. H.Recurrent breast cancer: Presentation, diagnosis and treatment. Seminars in Oncology, 1993, 20, 538–47.Google ScholarPubMed
20.King’s Fund Forum Consensus development conference: Treatment of primary breast cancer. British Medical Journal, 1986, 293, 946–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Legorreta, A. P., Brooks, R. J., Leibowitz, A. N., et al. Cost of breast cancer treatment. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1996, 156, 2197–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Leonard, R. C. F., Rodger, A., & Dixon, J. M.Metastatic breast cancer. British Medical Journal, 1994, 309, 1501–04.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Moody, C., Corder, A., Mullee, M. A., et al. The impact of the first 3 years of breast cancer screening on the overall presentation of breast cancer. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1994, 87, 259–62.Google Scholar
24.Olson, J. A.On what basis should health be discounted? Journal of Health Economics, 1993, 12, 39–53.Google Scholar
25.Rees, G. J. G.Cost-effectiveness in oncology. Lancet, 1985, ii, 1405–07.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Richards, M. A., Braysher, S., Gregory, W. M., et al. Advanced breast cancer: Use of resources and cost implications. British Journal of Cancer, 1993, 67, 856–60.Google Scholar
27.Robertson, F. M., Romanow, J., & Otchy, D. P.Effect of mass screening mammography on staging of carcinoma of the breast in women. Surgery: Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1990, 171, 55–58.Google ScholarPubMed
28.Robertson, J. R. F., Whynes, D. K., Dixon, A., et al. Potential for cost economies in guiding patients with metastatic breast cancer. British Journal of Cancer, 1995, 72, 174–77.Google Scholar
29.Rodger, A., Leonard, R. C. F. & Dixon, J. M.Locally advanced breast cancer. British Medical Journal, 1994, 309, 1431–33.Google Scholar
30.Rodgers, A.The UK breast cancer screening program: An expensive mistake. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 1990, 12, 197–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31.Rubens, R. D.Management of early breast cancer. British Medical Journal, 1992, 304, 1361–64.Google Scholar
32.Rubens, R. D.The management of locally advanced breast cancer. British Journal of Cancer, 1992, 65, 145–47.Google Scholar
33.Salkeld, G., & Gerard, K.Will early detection of breast cancer reduce the costs of treatment? Australian Journal of Public Health, 1994, 18, 388–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34.Screening brief: Breast cancer [editorial] Journal of Medical Screening, 1994, 1, 73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36.U.K. Trial of Early Detection of Breast Cancer Group. Breast cancer mortality after 10 years in the UK trial of early detection of breast cancer. The Breast, 1993, 2, 13–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35.Sculpher, M. J., & Buxton, M. J.The private costs incurred when patients attend screening clinics: The cases of screening for breast cancer and for diabetic retinopathy. Uxbridge. Brunel University, Health Economics Research Group, 1993.Google Scholar
37.Warren, R., & Skrabanek, P.The debate over mass mammography in Britain: The case for, the case against. British Medical Journal, 1988, 297, 969–72.Google Scholar
38.Watson, J. M. G., & Junger, G.Principles and Practice of Screening for Disease: WHO Public Health Papers 34. Geneva: WHO, 1968.Google Scholar
39.Whynes, D. K., Walker, A. R., Chamberlain, J. O., et al. Screening and the costs of treating colorectal cancer. British Journal of Cancer, 1993, 68, 965–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed