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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study looks closely at the cost of having prostate cancer. The research reports no matter what treatment option is chosen, the financial burden is substantial and sustained over five years.
More than 200,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the United States. There are many different treatment options including using no treatment at all, which is considered "watchful waiting." There's also radiation and androgen deprivation therapy. Investigators from the University of California, San Francisco, examined treatment choices and compared the costs for more than five years in 4,553 men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
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Not surprisingly, study authors found the costs varied by treatment type, risk and age. They report in the first six months, the costs ranged from watchful waiting for $2,568 and external beam radiation for $24,204. This initial treatment choice was affected by a patient's age and disease risk. Older men with higher risk required more expensive therapies. After the first year, the average annual cost for any of the treatments was more than $7,700.
Researchers say the cumulative cost over five years ranged from $32,135 for watchful waiting to $69,244 for androgen deprivation therapy. Investigators say this shows that the costs continue to increase beyond that initial time period after diagnosis. They say most research is done just on the short-term costs, but this study shows the financial burden continues for at least five years.
SOURCE: CANCER, published online Dec. 21, 2006
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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