OBJECTIVE: To determine the costs and health effects of interventions to combat breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers in order to guide resource allocation decisions in developing countries.
SETTING: Two World Health Organization sub-regions of the world: countries in sub-Saharan Africa with very high adult and high child mortality (AfrE); and countries in South East Asia with high adult and high child mortality (SearD).
DESIGN: Cost effectiveness analysis of prevention and treatment strategies for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer, using mathematical modelling based on a lifetime population model.
DATA SOURCES: Demographic and epidemiological data were taken from the WHO mortality and global burden of disease databases. Estimates of intervention coverage, effectiveness, and resource needs were based on clinical trials, treatment guidelines, and expert opinion. Unit costs were taken from the WHO-CHOICE price database.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost per disability adjusted life year (DALY) averted, expressed in international dollars ($Int) for the year 2005.
RESULTS: In both regions certain interventions in cervical cancer control (screening through cervical smear tests or visual inspection with acetic acid in combination with treatment) and colorectal cancer control (increasing the coverage of treatment interventions) cost <$Int2000 per DALY averted and can be considered highly cost effective. In the sub-Saharan African region screening for colorectal cancer (by colonoscopy at age 50 in combination with treatment) costs $Int2000-6000 per DALY averted and can be considered cost effective. In both regions certain interventions in breast cancer control (treatment of all cancer stages in combination with mammography screening) cost $Int2000-6000 per DALY averted and can also be considered cost effective. Other interventions, such as campaigns to eat more fruit and vegetable or subsidies in colorectal cancer control, are not cost effective according to the criteria defined.
CONCLUSION: Highly cost effective interventions to combat cervical and colorectal cancer are available in the African and Asian sub-regions. In cervical cancer control, these include screening through smear tests or visual inspection in combination with treatment. In colorectal cancer, increasing treatment coverage is highly cost effective (screening through colonoscopy is cost effective in the African sub-region). In breast cancer control, mammography screening in combination with treatment of all stages is cost effective.
OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer control in Ghana is characterised by low awareness, late-stage treatment and poor survival. In settings with severely constrained health resources, there is a need to spend money wisely. To achieve this and to guide policy makers in their selection of interventions, this study systematically compares costs and effects of breast cancer control interventions in Ghana.
METHODS: We used a mathematical model to estimate costs and health effects of breast cancer interventions in Ghana from the healthcare perspective. Analyses were based on the WHO-CHOICE method, with health effects expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), costs in 2009 US dollars (US$) and cost-effectiveness ratios (CERs) in US$ per DALY averted. Analyses were based on local demographic, epidemiological and economic data, to the extent these data were available.
RESULTS: Biennial screening by clinical breast examination (CBE) of women aged 40-69 years, in combination with treatment of all stages, seems the most cost-effective intervention (costing $1299 per DALY averted). The intervention is also economically attractive according to international standards on cost-effectiveness. Mass media awareness raising (MAR) is the second best option (costing $1364 per DALY averted). Mammography screening of women of aged 40-69 years (costing $12,908 per DALY averted) cannot be considered cost-effective.
CONCLUSIONS: Both CBE screening and MAR seem economically attractive interventions. Given the uncertainty about the effectiveness of these interventions, only their phased introduction, carefully monitored and evaluated, is warranted. Moreover, their implementation is only meaningful if the capacity of basic cancer diagnostic, referral and treatment and possibly palliative services is simultaneously improved.
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is associated with substantial medical and economic burden. This study assisted the expenditure incurred by the subjects on diagnosis and treatment till the period of follow-up.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective study; a case series of patients studied at the time of diagnosis and followed after 6 months. The study was conducted at one of Hospitals in India, from January 2006 to December 2007. One hundred and seventy-two women with new primary breast cancer were included in the study. During the study period 69 subjects were lost to follow-up. The comparative analysis was done for 103 subjects. Cost implications of breast cancer include direct medical costs and indirect costs. Questionnaire for the data collection was used. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were used.
RESULTS: The median total direct and indirect expenditure was Rs. 12,100 (US$ 1 = Rs 50) with the range of Rs. 0-54000. The largest component of total direct medical costs was in stage I (median Rs. 6530), total indirect costs (median Rs. 7500), and median total cost was Rs. 17,600. The total expenditures (median Rs. 13,100) were the highest in younger age group (<40). The median direct expenditure was higher in the subjects who visited private setup before coming to Hospital (Rs. 8250) than those who came directly (Rs. 4500).
CONCLUSIONS: Cost of treatment for breast cancer depends on many factors, including the stages of the cancer, the woman's age, perhaps the costs of treatment, private hospital and insurance.
OBJECTIVE: To inform decision making regarding intervention strategies against non-communicable diseases in Mexico, in the context of health reform.
DESIGN: Cost effectiveness analysis based on epidemiological modelling.
INTERVENTIONS: 101 intervention strategies relating to nine major clusters of non-communicable disease: depression, heavy alcohol use, tobacco use, cataracts, breast cancer, cervical cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
DATA SOURCES: Mexican data sources were used for most key input parameters, including administrative registries; disease burden and population estimates; household surveys; and drug price databases. These sources were supplemented as needed with estimates for Mexico from the WHO-CHOICE unit cost database or with estimates extrapolated from the published literature.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Population health outcomes, measured in disability adjusted life years (DALYs); costs in 2005 international dollars ($Int); and costs per DALY.
RESULTS: Across 101 intervention strategies examined in this study, average yearly costs at the population level would range from around ≤$Int1m (such as for cataract surgeries) to >$Int1bn for certain strategies for primary prevention in cardiovascular disease. Wide variation also appeared in total population health benefits, from <1000 DALYs averted a year (for some components of cancer treatments or aspirin for acute ischaemic stroke) to >300,000 averted DALYs (for aggressive combinations of interventions to deal with alcohol use or cardiovascular risks). Interventions in this study spanned a wide range of average cost effectiveness ratios, differing by more than three orders of magnitude between the lowest and highest ratios. Overall, community and public health interventions such as non-personal interventions for alcohol use, tobacco use, and cardiovascular risks tended to have lower cost effectiveness ratios than many clinical interventions (of varying complexity). Even within the community and public health interventions, however, there was a 200-fold difference between the most and least cost effective strategies examined. Likewise, several clinical interventions appeared among the strategies with the lowest average cost effectiveness ratios-for example, cataract surgeries.
CONCLUSIONS: Wide variations in costs and effects exist within and across intervention categories. For every major disease area examined, at least some strategies provided excellent value for money, including both population based and personal interventions.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-utility of Docetaxel with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (TAC) and 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide (FAC) in node-positive breast cancer patients in the south of Iran.
METHODS: A double blind study was done on a cohort of 100 patients suffering from breast cancer with node-positive over 8 months in the radiotherapy center of Namazi hospital, Shiraz-Iran. Health-related quality of life was assessed using questionnaire (QLQ-C30) from European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). QLQ-C30 scale scores were mapped to 15D and EuroQol 5D utilities to measure the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs).Third party payer point of view was applied to measure and value the cost of treatments. Cost data were extracted from hospital and health insurance organizations. Robustness of the results was checked through a two way sensitivity analysis.
RESULTS: TAC was associated with higher deterioration in HRQoL during treatment and higher improvements over 4 months follow-up. On average, the cost of treatment per patient in TAC was 15 times higher than FAC (p < .001). In overall, TAC was resulted in lower QALYs and higher cost over study period.
CONCLUSIONS: FAC was a dominant option versus TAC in short-term. The higher improvement in HRQoL over follow-up in TAC may not compensate the more intensive deterioration caused during treatment in short-term. The short time horizon of study may limit the generalizability of our findings and, hence, there is a need to conduct long-term economic evaluation studies whenever data is available to inform decision making.
The primary objective was to assess the cost-effectiveness, from the Chinese societal perspective, of additional radiotherapy for women with early breast cancer after breast-conserving surgery (BCS). The Markov model was constructed to simulate women's transitions across various health states based on the clinical course of breast cancer (no recurrence, local or distant recurrence, and death) and treatment strategy (radiotherapy vs. no-radiotherapy). The clinical and utility data were estimated from published studies. Costs were estimated from the perspective of Chinese society. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effective ratios (ICERs) were determined. Probabilistic and one-way sensitivity analyses were performed. The addition of radiotherapy following BCS was associated with improved overall survival (22.20 vs. 19.51 years) and QALYs (13.25 vs. 11.75) and reduced lifetime costs ($24,518.9 vs. $25,147.0). The ICER of radiotherapy vs. no-radiotherapy was -$420.56/QALY gained. Sensitivity, subgroup and scenario analyses indicated that these results were robust against plausible assumptions and variations. In health resource-limited settings, the addition of radiotherapy is a very cost-effective strategy in comparison to no-radiotherapy in women with early breast cancer.
CONTEXT: Surgical pathology is unavailable in most of sub-Saharan Africa because of equipment costs and lack of expertise. Cytopathology is an inexpensive and reliable alternative.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the utility of cytopathology in a rural hospital setting in Africa.
DESIGN: A cytopathologist and a pathology resident from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, went to Cameroon to provide a cytopathology service at the Banso Baptist Hospital. Both performed the fine-needle aspiration procedures. Direct smears were fixed in alcohol and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Surgical specimens subsequently obtained from the patients were processed and reported at Calgary Laboratory Services, Canada. The histopathologic diagnoses were the gold standard for determining the accuracy of the cytologic diagnoses.
RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were examined during a 5-week period, 33 females (56%) and 26 males (44%). Sixteen (27%) were known to be HIV positive. Forty-four fine-needle aspiration procedures were performed for 43 patients (73%). The cost of each procedure was approximately US $10. Head and neck and breast were the sites most frequently sampled for aspirates. Cervical smears from 5 patients were also assessed, as were 8 fluid specimens and 2 touch preparations of prostatic core biopsies. The most frequent diagnoses for malignancy were carcinoma and lymphoma. Tuberculous lymphadenitis was diagnosed in 6 patients, 4 of whom were HIV positive. Surgical specimens were received from 18 patients (30%). Cytohistologic and clinicopathologic correlation revealed 1 false-positive (1.6%) and 1 false-negative (1.6%) diagnosis.
CONCLUSION: Cytopathology is a reliable alternative for tissue diagnosis in low-resource settings.
INTRODUCTION: The widespread use of improved mammographic techniques has led to increased detection of nonpalpable breast masses. Preoperative localization is important for reducing false negative results and decreasing the size of tissue resection needed and the resulting breast deformity. We used ultrasound guided methylen blue injection in the mass for localization of breast masses that were clinically nonpalpable but detectable by ultrasound.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: 57 masses from 51 patients were marked 20 to 180 minutes before surgery with 0.4-0.7 cc methylene blue and resection was done in operating room under local or general anesthesia . success of radiologist for localization and success of surgeon for complete resection and pathology results were reviwed and fallow up ultrasound was done 3-5 month after surgery for patients whom pathology report was non specific (such as FCC) to confirm complete resection.
RESULTS: 57 masses were excised successfully by the surgeon , localization was successful in all patients but injection in the mass was not feasible in 4 patients and dye was injected on the surface of the mass and led to successful excision .Only one mass was not found at surgery because dye washed out before surgery, and the mass was resected by use of intra operative ultrasound. 5.3% patients reported the procedure was painful and 28% reported tolerable pain during injection and 66.7 % of patients said that the injection was painless or with minimal discomfort. Allergic reaction was not seen in any patient and no interference was reported by the pathologist in slide preparation or diagnoses and IHC study.
CONCLUSION: Marking with blue dye injection is a safe and low cost method for localization of non palpable breast lesions that are detectable by Ultrasound. In one patient failure to find the mass was because of location of the mass that was in axillary tail of breast and time of surgery that was 100 minutes after injection that led to absorption of blue dye before surgery and it is advised to do surgery as soon as possible after blue dye injection especially in peripheral and deeply located masses.
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the first cancer in women both in incidence and mortality. The treatment of breast cancer benefited from the progress of chemotherapy and targeted therapies, but there was a parallel increase in treatment costs. Despite a relatively high incidence of many sites of cancer, so far, there is no national register for this disease in Morocco.The main goal of this paper is to estimate the total cost of chemotherapy in the early stages of breast cancer due to its frequency and the chances of patients being cured. This study provides health decision-makers with a first estimate of costs and the opportunity to achieve the optimal use of available data to estimate the needs of antimitotics and trastuzumab in Morocco.
METHOD: We start by evaluating the individual cost according to the therapeutic sub-groups, namely:1. Patients needing chemotherapy with only anthracycline-based therapy.2. Patients needing chemotherapy with both anthracycline and taxane but without trastuzumab.3. Patients needing trastuzumab in addition to chemotherapy.For each sub-group, the protocol of treatment is described, and the individual costs per unit, and for the whole cycle, are evaluated.Then we estimate the number of women suffering from breast cancer on the basis of two data bases available in Morocco.Finally, we calculate the total annual cost of treatment of breast cancer in Morocco.
RESULTS: The total cost of breast cancer in Morocco is given in Moroccan dirhams (MAD), the US dollar at the current exchange rate (MAD 10 = USD 1.30) and in international dollars or purchasing power parity (MAD 10 = PPP 1.95).The cost of a therapy with trastuzumab is 8.4 times the cost of a sequential chemotherapy combining anthracycline and taxane, and nearly 60 times the cost of chemotherapy based on anthracycline alone.Globally, between USD 13.3 million and USD 28.6 million need to be devoted every year by the Moroccan health authorities to treat women with localized breast cancer in keeping with international recommendations.
DISCUSSION: According to our estimation methods, the complete cost of adjuvant chemotherapy including trastuzumab will range from 1.3 to 2.4% of the global budget of the Moroccan Health Department (MAD 9.8 billion or USD 1.274 billion). Unfortunately, only one-third of the Moroccan population has healthcare insurance whereas for each patient the treatment with chemotherapy alone costs 1.15 times the annual minimum income (MAD 23,710 or USD 3,082), and treatment requiring both chemotherapy and trastuzumab costs 9.76 times the annual minimum income. For the tumour over expressing HER2Neu, we need to treat 25 women in order to save (cure) one woman: the calculated cost for one life saved is USD 663,000. The question is, is it cost-effective for an emerging country?
CONCLUSION: In this paper we aimed at evaluating the total cost of chemotherapy in the early stages of breast cancer in order to provide health decision-makers with a first estimation and a good opportunity for the optimal use of available data for the needs of antimitotics and trastuzumab in Morocco. Different protocols were considered and the individual cost of the whole treatment was given according to therapies using anthracycline alone, sequential chemotherapy combining anthracycline and taxane, and sequential chemotherapy with trastuzumab. According to our estimations, Moroccan health authorities need to devote between USD 13.3 million and USD 28.6 million every year in order to treat women suffering from localized breast cancer in ways consistent with international recommended standards.
To determine the costs and health effects of interventions to combat breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers in order to guide resource allocation decisions in developing countries.
SETTING:
Two World Health Organization sub-regions of the world: countries in sub-Saharan Africa with very high adult and high child mortality (AfrE); and countries in South East Asia with high adult and high child mortality (SearD).
DESIGN:
Cost effectiveness analysis of prevention and treatment strategies for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer, using mathematical modelling based on a lifetime population model.
DATA SOURCES:
Demographic and epidemiological data were taken from the WHO mortality and global burden of disease databases. Estimates of intervention coverage, effectiveness, and resource needs were based on clinical trials, treatment guidelines, and expert opinion. Unit costs were taken from the WHO-CHOICE price database.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Cost per disability adjusted life year (DALY) averted, expressed in international dollars ($Int) for the year 2005.
RESULTS:
In both regions certain interventions in cervical cancer control (screening through cervical smear tests or visual inspection with acetic acid in combination with treatment) and colorectal cancer control (increasing the coverage of treatment interventions) cost <$Int2000 per DALY averted and can be considered highly cost effective. In the sub-Saharan African region screening for colorectal cancer (by colonoscopy at age 50 in combination with treatment) costs $Int2000-6000 per DALY averted and can be considered cost effective. In both regions certain interventions in breast cancer control (treatment of all cancer stages in combination with mammography screening) cost $Int2000-6000 per DALY averted and can also be considered cost effective. Other interventions, such as campaigns to eat more fruit and vegetable or subsidies in colorectal cancer control, are not cost effective according to the criteria defined.
CONCLUSION:
Highly cost effective interventions to combat cervical and colorectal cancer are available in the African and Asian sub-regions. In cervical cancer control, these include screening through smear tests or visual inspection in combination with treatment. In colorectal cancer, increasing treatment coverage is highly cost effective (screening through colonoscopy is cost effective in the African sub-region). In breast cancer control, mammography screening in combination with treatment of all stages is cost effective.
