National Trends in Healthcare Expenditures for the Management of Skin Cancer in the United States

Bryan Ma; Matthew T James; An-Wen Chan; P Régine Mydlarski

doi:10.1177/12034754241293131

National Trends in Healthcare Expenditures for the Management of Skin Cancer in the United States

J Cutan Med Surg. 2024 Nov 16:12034754241293131. doi: 10.1177/12034754241293131. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Bryan Ma¹, Matthew T James², An-Wen Chan³, P Régine Mydlarski¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
² Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
³ Women's College Research Institute at Women's College Hospital, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 39548853
DOI: 10.1177/12034754241293131

Abstract

Background: Malignant melanoma and keratinocyte carcinomas account for a substantial proportion of healthcare expenditures in the United States.

Objective: To estimate trends in the economic burden of skin cancer in the United States between 1996 and 2016.

Methods: The Disease Expenditure Project and Global Burden of Disease databases were used to estimate annual total costs and population-standardized rates of change for skin cancer-related healthcare spending.

Results: Skin cancer expenditures totaled $23.4 billion in 2016, of which $1.4 billion (95% CI: $1.3-$1.6 billion) was melanoma-related and $22 billion (95% CI: $18-$28 billion) was keratinocyte carcinoma-related. Most spending on skin cancer management occurred in ambulatory care settings [60.7% (95% CI: 57.7%-64.3%) for melanoma and 87.8% (95% CI: 87.2%-88.2%) for keratinocyte carcinoma]. Pharmaceutical costs for melanoma have increased since 2010 to $365 million (95% CI: $327-$416 million), which represents 26.1% (95% CI: 22.6%-29.3%) of total melanoma expenditure.

Conclusions: Skin cancer management in the United States is costly. Expenditures have increased substantially since 1996 without signs of plateauing in recent years.

Keywords: Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database; Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations Disease Expenditure (DEX) 2016 project; health economics; keratinocyte carcinoma; melanoma.