Objectives: To determine the relationship among the initial choice of therapy, stage at presentation, and first-year treatment costs in men with newly diagnosed localized prostate cancer.
Methods: First-year resource use and clinical data were collected for 235 subjects with newly diagnosed localized prostate cancer. The costs were estimated from the standard Medicare payment schedules. The relationship among the initial therapy, stage at presentation, and overall cost was examined for the entire cohort and in the subgroup of patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. In addition, the inpatient, outpatient, and medication cost components were evaluated separately to determine what influenced the changes in cost by stage.
Results: The mean first-year cost of treating localized prostate cancer in CaPSURE was $6375. When broken down by stage, the mean first-year cost for patients with Stage T1c was $5731, with T2a/b was $6426, and with Stage T2c was $6810 (P = 0.059). The initial treatment choice was significantly associated with the total first-year costs (P <0.001). The mean cost specifically for radical prostatectomy patients with Stage T1c disease was $6881, with T2a/b was $7216, and with T2c was $8027 (P = 0.004). The increases in the first-year cost with higher stage appeared to primarily be associated with increased inpatient resource use and the greater use of adjuvant hormonal therapy.
Conclusions: The first-year costs of treating localized prostate cancer in CaPSURE are associated with the choice of primary and adjuvant therapy. This supports the notion that cost savings may be possible with earlier detection of disease or by minimizing the use of hormonal adjuvant therapy.