The cost of lung cancer management in France from the payor's perspective.

Background: We assessed the average management cost per case of lung cancer in France according to the histological type and stage at diagnosis, together with the cost of each component of different treatment strategies.Methods: The sample was drawn from public and private hospitals that were treating large numbers of patients. The study covered the period from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 1999 and was based on medical chart review. A Markov model with six decision trees (two for small cell lung cancer [SCLC] and four for non-small cell lung cancer [NSCLC]) was used for the cost analysis. Treatment was broken down into first-line and second-line strategies, surveillance, and terminal care (TC).Results: The average management costs were [Euro sign]22 006 ([Euro sign]10 631-36 296) for 1 year and [Euro sign]25 643 ([Euro sign]10 631-41 191) for 2 years. The 2-year average costs were [Euro sign]22 420 for disseminated SCLC and [Euro sign]27 098 for localized SCLC. The costs of NSCLC ranged from [Euro sign]19 543 for nonsurgical stages to [Euro sign]30 024 for surgical stages and [Euro sign]24 383 for stage IV. The weight of the different components of each strategy differed markedly according to the diagnostic subgroup: the cost of diagnosis ranged from 7.4% to 14% of total management costs, and that of TC from 11.5% to 31.1%. The principal cost component was first-line chemotherapy (32-58.5%). Sensitivity analyses showed that, whatever the type of lung cancer, the percentage of actively treated patients was the main cost determinant. TC and chemotherapeutic lines also had important economic implications.Conclusion: The model developed here enables the component costs of different lung cancer management strategies in France to be assessed and the economic consequences of new treatment modalities to be predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]