Objective: To determine the direct treatment cost of lung cancer management from progression to death from the viewpoint of the hospital.
Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was performed. Data from 100 patients who died of lung cancer and who had received treatment from four different types of hospital were used; the hospitals were public hospitals (teaching and non-teaching), private not-for-profit cancer centres, and private hospitals. Resource utilisation/cost data collected included the cost of diagnosis of the recurrence, the cost of hospitalisations or day care treatments and ambulatory surgery. All resources were valued in 2001 euros.
Results: In France, the average cost per patient was euro12 518 for the whole group (78% with non-small cell lung cancer [NSCLC], and 22% with small cell lung cancer [SCLC]), euro13 969 for patients with NSCLC and euro7369 for patients with SCLC. The higher cost of treatment in patients with NSCLC is explained by longer survival and duration of chemotherapy. In patients with NSCLC, 51% of the total cost corresponded to terminal care, with up to seven lines of chemotherapy. In patients with SCLC, the costs of diagnosis and terminal care each represented 41% of the total cost.
Conclusions: The cost of treatment of recurrence of lung carcinoma is high, and is related to the number of lines of chemotherapy and the use of radiotherapy and surgery.