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Active Surveillance Economical Over Immediate Treatment for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
Researchers in Canada have developed a model to simulate the cost of active surveillance versus immediate treatment among low-risk prostate cancer patients.
Active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer in Canada could save nearly $100 million annually without worsening quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE), according to results of a simulation comparing active surveillance with immediate treatment.
Many prostate cancers, especially those in the low-risk category, are indolent and may not require immediate treatment. At least one study has showed that QALE is greater for active surveillance than for brachytherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, or radical prostatectomy.
Still, despite published guideline recommendations, as many as 90% of men with prostate cancer receive immediate treatment. Such overtreatment can be a tremendous financial burden to healthcare systems.
To see how costly it might be, Dr. Alice Dragomir and colleagues from McGill University in Montreal developed a Markov model with Monte Carlo microsimulations to estimate the direct cost associated with active surveillance and immediate treatment for low-risk prostate in Canada.
Then, they compared Canadian and US cost estimates, and published their findings online April 24th in CMAJ Open.
Source: Medscape
Oncology Onward: A Conversation With Penn Medicine's Dr Justin Bekelman
December 19th 2023Justin Bekelman, MD, director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation, sat with our hosts Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, and Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, for our final episode of 2023 to discuss the importance of collaboration between academic medicine and community oncology and testing innovative cancer care delivery in these settings.
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