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For Release: November 3, 1999
RADIATION THERAPY FOLLOWING MASTECTOMY
MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE FOR SOME BREAST CANCER PATIENTS
Radiation therapy following mastectomy and chemotherapy for premenopausal women who have breast cancer that has spread to their lymph nodes is not only effective in terms of improving survival but cost effective as well, a Canadian study shows.
The study conducted at the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada found that combining radiation therapy with mastectomy and chemotherapy costs an additional $10,000 per life year gained (Canadian dollars), says Rajiv Samant, M.D., program leader of the radiation treatment program. That figure includes a detailed account of all institutional costs, including capital costs, administrative costs, physician fees, the cost for consultation, treatment planning, actual treatment and the first post treatment visit, he says.
"A previous American study has identified a median expenditure of approximately $19,000 U.S. or $30,000 Canadian per life year gained for a range of life-saving medical interventions, and a Canadian study suggests that treatments costing less than $20,000 Canadian per quality-adjusted life-year gained are highly cost-effective," Dr. Samant says.
Peter Dunscombe, Ph.D., chief physicist, Dr. Samant, and Gisele Roberts calculated the cost at $10,000 (Canadian) per life year gained based on the institutional costs at Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre combined with recently published data from British Columbia and Denmark that showed an improvement in outcome at 10 years if these patients received radiation therapy. "Our calculation point was 10 years based on the currently available published data, but we expect these women to live much longer than that," Dr. Samant says. "The $10,000 figure will actually decrease if (as expected) the projected survival advantage of radiation therapy continues to 15 years and beyond," he says.
"Previous studies showed that there is a survival benefit when you treat premenopausal node positive breast cancer patients with locoregional radiation therapy following mastectomy. Our study shows how economical this treatment really is," he says.
Dr. Dunscombe presented the study on November 3 at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meeting in San Antonio, TX.
The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 5,000 members. As a leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the society's goals are to advance the scientific base of radiation therapy and to extend the benefits of radiation therapy to those with cancer.
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