Comparison of treatment costs for breast cancer, by tumor stage and type of service

Approximately 12.3% of women in the U.S. will receive a breast cancer diagnosis at some point in their life. The diagnosis of breast cancer at early stages is associated with better clinical and survival outcomes. But how the costs of care vary depending on the stage at which the disease was diagnosed have not been thoroughly examined. This article quantifies the stage-dependent average per capita cost of breast cancer treatment for a commercially insured population of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

This article was originally published in the February 2016 issue of American Health & Drug Benefits.