Shafiq Jesmin, Batumalai Vikneswary, Wong Karen, Kaadan Nasreen, Powell Alexandra, Delaney Geoff P, Vinod Shalini K
Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CCORE), Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, New South Wales, USA.
Cancer Therapy Centre, Liverpool Hospital, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2025 Sep;69(6):641-648. doi: 10.1111/1754-9485.70000. Epub 2025 Aug 5.
Optimal radiotherapy (RT) use in cancer patients results in substantial 5-year local control (LC) and overall survival (OS) benefits at the population level. This study aimed to estimate the average per capita cost of the first course of RT treatment and the associated cost per LC and OS outcomes, both overall and by cancer stage.
Data on RT activities from 2017 to 2020 for lung, rectum, cervix, prostate, brain and head and neck (H&N) cancers were extracted from South-Western Sydney Local Health District electronic oncology information system MOSAIQ (Elekta, version 2.63). Costs were assigned based on activity codes and adjusted for yearly inflation rates. The average cost per treatment course was calculated (average cost per activity × number of fractions). Costs per 5- and 1-year LC and OS outcomes were estimated for all stages and for stages I-II and III.
A total of 106,174 RT activities were extracted. The average cost of an RT treatment course was highest for prostate cancer ($10,332) and lowest for lung cancer ($5598). The lowest costs per 5-year outcome were observed for cervical cancers (LC: $15,780, OS: $28,370) and H&N cancers (LC: $17,500, OS: $29,750). The cost per 5-year LC and OS outcome remained below $100,000 across all stages for each cancer type, except for prostate cancer, where the cost per OS outcome exceeded this level.
This study demonstrates that the absolute costs associated with achieving 5-year local control and overall survival outcomes with radiotherapy are comparatively low across several major cancer types. These findings highlight the efficiency of radiotherapy in delivering meaningful clinical outcomes and can help inform service planning, investment decisions and prioritisation of radiotherapy within cancer care strategies.
在癌症患者中优化使用放射治疗（RT）可在人群层面带来显著的5年局部控制（LC）和总生存期（OS）获益。本研究旨在估算首次RT治疗疗程的人均平均成本以及与LC和OS结局相关的成本，包括总体情况以及按癌症分期的情况。
从悉尼西南部地方卫生区电子肿瘤信息系统MOSAIQ（医科达，2.63版）中提取2017年至2020年肺癌、直肠癌、宫颈癌、前列腺癌、脑癌以及头颈部（H&N）癌症的RT活动数据。根据活动代码分配成本，并针对年度通货膨胀率进行调整。计算每个治疗疗程的平均成本（每项活动的平均成本×分次次数）。估算所有分期以及I-II期和III期的每5年和1年LC及OS结局的成本。
共提取了106,174项RT活动。RT治疗疗程的平均成本在前列腺癌中最高（10,332美元），在肺癌中最低（5598美元）。宫颈癌（LC：15,780美元，OS：28,370美元）和H&N癌症（LC：17,500美元，OS：29,750美元）的每5年结局成本最低。除前列腺癌的OS结局成本超过该水平外，每种癌症类型在所有分期的每5年LC和OS结局成本均低于100,000美元。
本研究表明，在几种主要癌症类型中，通过放射治疗实现5年局部控制和总生存期结局的绝对成本相对较低。这些发现凸显了放射治疗在实现有意义的临床结局方面的效率，并有助于为癌症护理策略中的服务规划、投资决策和放射治疗优先级提供参考。
