International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

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Dear Colleagues,

Ever-increasing advances and innovations in cancer research continue to provide new technologies for early detection, personalized treatment and survivorship care to improve patients’ quality and quantity of life. An estimated 19.3 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed globally in 2020, with a 5-year relative survival rate of 69% for all cancers combined [NCCI]. Many of these cancer survivors (people with a history of cancer) require continuing medical care due to chronic health conditions and late adverse effects which has a significant impact on all levels of society, including individuals and their families, communities, health care providers and governments. Long-term outcomes of cancer survivors after the initial treatment finishes are under-researched, and the direct (e.g., economic impact) and indirect costs (e.g., quality of life) are uncertain. Health economics research is the ideal platform to evaluate the long-term costs of cancer survivors, from the patient, health care and societal perspectives, to aid decision making, optimize care and use scarce health care resources responsibly.

For this Special Issue titled “The Long-term Cost of Surviving Cancer (≥2yrs)”, we would like to invite high-quality research on topics such as:

Financial burden for patients, their families and their carers;
Quality of life of survivors over time;
Health system costs and health services use;
Innovative long-term care models;
Economic impact of support services and programs;
Productivity and employment;
Economic evaluations, cost analyses, cost-effectiveness studies, economic modelling;
Research focused on specific age groups (childhood, adolescent and young adult, adult and/or elderly survivors);
Literature reviews.

Dr. Katharina Merollini
Guest Editor

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Keywords

cancer
survivorship
economic evaluations
cost analysis
cost effectiveness
economic burden
patient outcomes
financial toxicity
health services research
quality of life

Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 2067 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cancer Survivors’ Long-Term Health Service Costs in Queensland, Australia: Results of a Population-Level Data Linkage Study (Cos-Q)

by Katharina M. D. Merollini, Louisa G. Gordon, Yiu M. Ho, Joanne F. Aitken and Michael G. Kimlin

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(15), 9473; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19159473 - 02 Aug 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2425

Abstract

Worldwide, the number of cancer survivors is rapidly increasing. The aim of this study was to quantify long-term health service costs of cancer survivorship on a population level. The study cohort comprised residents of Queensland, Australia, diagnosed with a first primary malignancy between 1997 and 2015. Administrative databases were linked with cancer registry records to capture all health service utilization. Health service costs between 2013–2016 were analyzed using a bottom-up costing approach. The cumulative mean annual healthcare expenditure (2013–2016) for the cohort of N = 230,380 individuals was AU$3.66 billion. The highest costs were incurred by patients with a history of prostate (AU$538 m), breast (AU$496 m) or colorectal (AU$476 m) cancers. Costs by time since diagnosis were typically highest in the first year after diagnosis and decreased over time. Overall mean annual healthcare costs per person (2013–2016) were AU$15,889 (SD: AU$25,065) and highest costs per individual were for myeloma (AU$45,951), brain (AU$30,264) or liver cancer (AU$29,619) patients. Our results inform policy makers in Australia of the long-term health service costs of cancer survivors, provide data for economic evaluations and reinforce the benefits of investing in cancer prevention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Long-Term Cost of Surviving Cancer)

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16 pages, 1024 KiB

Open AccessProtocol

DAta Linkage to Enhance Cancer Care (DaLECC): Protocol of a Large Australian Data Linkage Study

by Laura C. Edney, Jackie Roseleur, Tim Bright, David I. Watson, Gaston Arnolda, Jeffrey Braithwaite, Geoffrey P. Delaney, Winston Liauw, Rebecca Mitchell and Jonathan Karnon

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(11), 5987; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph20115987 - 29 May 2023

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Abstract

Cancer is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, accounting for 250 Disability-Adjusted Life Years and 10 million deaths in 2019. Minimising unwarranted variation and ensuring appropriate cost-effective treatment across primary and tertiary care to improve health outcomes is a key health priority. There are few studies that have used linked data to explore healthcare utilisation prior to diagnosis in addition to post-diagnosis patterns of care. This protocol outlines the aims of the DaLECC project and key methodological features of the linked dataset. The primary aim of this project is to explore predictors of variations in pre- and post-cancer diagnosis care, and to explore the economic and health impact of any variation. The cohort of patients includes all South Australian residents diagnosed with cancer between 2011 and 2020, who were recorded on the South Australian Cancer Registry. These cancer registry records are being linked with state and national healthcare databases to capture health service utilisation and costs for a minimum of one-year prior to diagnosis and to a maximum of 10 years post-diagnosis. Healthcare utilisation includes state databases for inpatient separations and emergency department presentations and national databases for Medicare services and pharmaceuticals. Our results will identify barriers to timely receipt of care, estimate the impact of variations in the use of health care, and provide evidence to support interventions to improve health outcomes to inform national and local decisions to enhance the access and uptake of health care services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Long-Term Cost of Surviving Cancer)

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