Aging population means higher cost of cancer treatment

Aging population means higher cost of cancer treatment

The price of cancer treatment may reach as high as $200 billion in the next ten years as more and more Americans live longer and develop the dreaded condition, the National Cancer Institute said today. The estimated cost will rise two-thirds more than present levels, institute researchers said in its report which appeared in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Last year's cost for cancer care hit $125 billion. According to Angela Mariotto, chief of data modeling at the institute's Surveillance Research Program, the growing number of seniors at risk for cancer will push the cost higher to $158 billion by 2020.

Anticipated advances in health care technology and cancer treatment will increase cost of cancer care by 5 percent within the first year of diagnosis. If that happens, then the cost of treating cancer-stricken Americans will reach $207 billion dollars according to one scenario presented in the report.

Newer methods of diagnosis, treatment and monitoring will also jack up the cost of individual care. The use of expensive drugs like Avastin and Sutent will likely become more common and will drive cancer care costs even higher.

Prostate and breast cancer patients will have higher survival rates and that will drive up the costs of treatments significantly.

Cancer killed 570,000 Americans in 2010  according to data from the American Cancer Society and remains the number two cause of death in the country.

Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau says that 40 million Americans are at least 65 years old this year. That number will rise to 55 million ten years from now, representing 16 percent of the whole population. As they grow older and develop more tumors and malignancies, they are likely to receive costlier cancer treatment.

Posted by George Daniels on Thursday January 13 2011, 12:38 AM EDT. Ref: Bloomberg. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0