| Summary: | Background/Aim. Cancer, one of the leading causes of mortality in the world,
imposes a substantial economic burden on each society, including Serbia. The
aim of this study was to evaluate the major cancer cost drivers in Serbia.
Methods. A retrospective, indepth, bottom-up analysis of two combined
databases was performed in order to quantify relevant costs. End-of-life data
were obtained from patients with cancer, who deceased within the first year
of the established diagnose, including basic demographics, diagnosis, tumour
histology, medical resource use and related costs, time and cause of death.
All costs were allocated to one of the three categories of cancer health care
services: primary care (included home care), hospital outpatient and hospital
inpatient care. Results. Exactly 114 patients were analyzed, out of whom a
high percent (48.25%) had distant metastases at the moment of establishing
the diagnosis. Malignant neoplasms of respiratory and intrathoracic organs
were leading causes of morbidity. The average costs per patient were
significantly different according to the diagnosis, with the highest
(13,114.10 EUR) and the lowest (4.00 EUR) ones observed in the breast cancer
and melanoma, respectively. The greatest impact on total costs was observed
concerning pharmaceuticals, with 42% of share (monoclonal antibodies amounted
to 34% of all medicines and 14% of total costs), followed by oncology medical
care (21%), radiation therapy and interventional radiology (11%), surgery
(9%), imaging diagnostics (9%) and laboratory costs (8%). Conclusion. Cancer
treatment incurs high costs, especially for end-of-life pharmaceutical
expenses, ensued from medical personnel tendency to improve such patients’
quality of life in spite of nearing the end of life. Reimbursement policy on
monoclonal antibodies, in particular at end-stage disease, should rely on
cost-effectiveness evidence as well as documented clinical efficiency.
[Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 175014]
|
|---|