Economic burden of ovarian cancer can exceed $200,000 per year, based on treatment phase

Key takeaways:

• Ovarian cancer treatment costs ranged from $26,000 to more than $200,000 annually depending on care phase.
• Average yearly costs of care were highest in the start of care and end-of-life phases of care.

Ovarian cancer care costs are considerable, varying by care phase, age and geographic region, with the highest costs observed at initiation of and end-of-life care, researchers reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“Given recent advances in the availability and breadth of novel therapeutic agents for ovarian cancer treatment, along with the rising cost of cancer care and associated financial toxicity, current cost estimates are needed,” Naomi N. Adjei, MD, MPH, gynecologic oncology fellow at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues wrote.

Adjei and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study using inpatient, outpatient and prescription claims data for 7,913 women with ovarian cancer diagnosed between 2015 and 2020 with commercial or Medicare insurance nationwide. Researchers calculated ovarian cancer costs for the first 6 months of care, continuing care and end-of-life care in 2021 U.S. dollar amounts, stratified by age, race/ethnicity and geographic region.

Mean average annual ovarian cancer care costs were more than $200,000 for the first 6 months of care, $26,000 to $88,000 annually for continuing care and more than $129,000 annually for end-of-life care.

Mean annual costs were highest for women aged 76 to 80 years, women with unknown race/ethnicity and women with unknown geographic region.

Researchers observed significant associations between age and ovarian care costs for every care phase with higher ovarian care costs for continuing care (regression coefficient = 1.21; 95% CI, 1.04-1.41) and lower costs for end-of-life care (regression coefficient = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.5-0.88) for women aged 76 to 80 years vs. 18 to 25 years.

Geographic region was associated with ovarian care costs regardless of care phase. Women in the South (regression coefficient = 1.21; 95% CI, 1.11-1.32) and Midwest (regression coefficient = 1.19; 95% CI, 1.08-1.31) had higher ovarian care costs for continuing care compared with women in the West. Women in the Midwest (regression coefficient = 3.63; 95% CI, 2.95-4.47) and South (regression coefficient = 2.13; 95% CI, 1.86-2.44) had higher ovarian care costs for end-of-life care compared with women in the West.

Race/ethnicity was not associated with ovarian care costs.

The researchers noted that the analysis did not capture indirect costs that contribute to financial toxicity in cancer survivors, such as lost wages, travel for care and the psychosocial and quality of life impacts related to cancer diagnosis and treatment.

“Patients with ovarian cancer experience considerable economic burdens,” the researchers wrote. “Because effective screening is not available to decrease the incidence of ovarian cancer, future research should focus on strategies to enhance the management of ovarian cancer care expenses and improve high-quality, value-based care.”