The Burrill Report


The aging population in the United States along with cancer trends are expected to drive annual cost of the disease up 27 percent, in 2010 dollars, to $158 billion by 2020, the National Cancer Institute reported. If new cancer therapies, diagnostics, and related services continue to rise, that figure could reach as much as $207 billion, the agency says.

The new projections are higher than previously published estimates of direct cancer expenditures, largely because the researchers used the most recent data available – including Medicare claims data through 2006, which include payments for newer, more expensive, targeted therapies that attack specific cancer cells and often have fewer side effects than other types of cancer treatments, the researchers say.

The analysis, published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, says 2010 medical costs associated with cancer was expected to reach $127.6 billion, with the highest costs associated with breast cancer ($16.5 billion), followed by colorectal cancer ($14 billion), lymphoma ($12 billion), lung cancer ($12 billion) and prostate cancer ($12 billion).

The researchers say that should medical cost in the initial and final phases of care grow at a rate of 2 percent, which would mirror recent trends, the projected 2020 costs would increase to $173 billion. A 5 percent annual increase in these costs raises the projection to $207 billion. These projections do not take into account other types of costs, such as lost productivity, which add to the overall financial burden of cancer.

According to the estimates, there were 13.8 million cancer survivors alive in 2010, 58 percent of whom were age 65 or older. If cancer incidence and survival rates remain stable, the number of cancer survivors in 2020 will increase by 31 percent, to about 18.1 million. Because of the aging of the U.S. population, the researchers expect the largest increase in cancer survivors over the next 10 years to be among Americans age 65 and older.

“The rising costs of cancer care illustrate how important it is for us to advance the science of cancer prevention and treatment to ensure that we're using the most effective approaches,” said Robert Croyle, director of National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. “This is especially important for elderly cancer patients with other complex health problems.”












January 14, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-u_s_cancer_cost_could_exceed_200_billion_by_2020.html