The costs of cancer to patients and society
Jessica Corner
Macmillan Cancer Support, UK
Until recently little attention had been paid to economic issues relating to cancer treatment and care. As a result of the growing incidence of cancer and the achievement of greater longevity with the disease, the economic impact of cancer in individuals and society at large is increasingly evident.
Most economic analyses have focused on the direct financial medical costs of care (drugs, diagnostic tests, hospital stay, radiotherapy treatments, surgical procedures etc); the indirect, non-medical costs of care (patient and caregiver time spent attending hospital consultations and receiving treatments and procedures and not spending time at work or on leisure or other activities) have received very little attention. Neither has the financial impact of cancer been systematically assessed in relation to loss of income, costs of attending for treatment or for having to compensate for activities one might usually do but have to have paid replacement for, statutory or private. An overview of evidence relating to the financial impact of cancer treatment to patients and caregivers will be reviewed as well as data relating to the impact of cancer treatment in a broad range of social and societal dimensions.
