Assessing The Economic Value Of Anti-cancer Therapies Assessing The Economic Value Of Anti-cancer Therapies

With ever increasing demands on the constrained resources available for health care services, no one involved in decision making in health care can continue to ignore the economic costs of the services provided or the relative value for money offered by the available treatments. Economic evaluation has therefore become an important and indispensable tool for medical deci­ sion making, alongside the well-known methods for clinical eval­ uation. This is also true for cancer, despite the aura of sanctity often of surrounding this dreaded disease and the apparent willingness the general population to spend large sums in this area and do "everything possible" for the patients. In recent years, articles dealing with assessing the costs and benefits of various cancer treatments have begun to appear in scientific medical and eco­ nomic journals. This book provides a comprehensive survey and assessment of the current state of the art of economic evaluations and cost ana­ lyses in cancer. It gives an introduction to the methods available for economic evaluations, before surveying and assessing the available publications. Separate chapters are devoted to the most prevalent cancers, and in each chapter the current clinical prac­ tice and research problems are summarized in order to provide a background for the economic analyses. At the end, a summary assessment of the literature is provided along with some sugges­ tions for a future research agenda. With ever increasing demands on the constrained resources available for health care services, no one involved in decision making in health care can any longer ignore the economic costs of the services provided or the relative value for money offered by the available treatments. Economic evaluation has therefore become an important and indispensable tool for medical decision taking, alongside the well-known methods for clinical evaluation. This book provides a comprehensive survey and assessment of the current state of the art of economic evaluation and cost analysis in cancer.

Incl. survey & assmt of econ. evaluations/cost analysis in cancer; clinical practice & rsch problems of common cancers.

Front Matter....Pages I-XI Introduction....Pages 1-8 Epidemiology of Cancer....Pages 9-14 Cancer and Some Basics of the Main Treatment Modalities....Pages 15-27 A Brief Introduction to Economic Evaluation....Pages 28-41 The Economic Burden of Cancer....Pages 42-53 Breast Cancer....Pages 54-78 Lung Cancer....Pages 79-96 Colorectal Cancer....Pages 97-113 Prostate Cancer....Pages 114-132 Genitourinary and Gynecological Cancer....Pages 133-155 Hematological Malignancies....Pages 156-182 Supportive Care I: Emesis and Infections....Pages 183-210 Supportive Care II: Hematological Support....Pages 211-247 Palliative Care....Pages 248-262 Conclusion....Pages 263-275 Back Matter....Pages 277-285 An assessment of the value of anticancer therapies, this volume addresses: the epidemiology of cancer and the main treatment modalities; the economic burden of cancer; emesis and infections; haematological support; and supportive care. N. Neymark. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.