Earlier studies on the cost of muscle-invasive bladder cancer treatments are limited to short-term costs of care. We determined the 2- and 5-year costs associated with trimodal therapy (TMT) vs. radical cystectomy (RC).
We performed a retrospective cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database. Total Medicare costs at 2 and 5 years following RC vs. TMT were compared using inverse probability of treatment-weighted propensity score models.
A total of 2,537 patients aged 66 to 85 years were diagnosed with clinical stage T2-4a muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Total median costs for patients that received no definitive treatment(s) were $73,780 and $88,275 at 2-and 5-years. Costs were significantly higher for TMT than RC at 2-years ($372,839 vs. $191,363, Median Difference $127,815, Hodges-Lehmann Estimate (H-L) 95% Confidence Interval (CI), $112,663-$142,966) and 5-years ($424,570 vs. $253,651, Median Difference $124,466, H-L 95% CI, $105,711-$143,221). TMT had higher outpatient costs than RC (2-years: $318,221 vs. $100,900; 5-years: $367,092 vs. $146,561) with significantly higher costs with radiology, medications, pathology/laboratory, and other professional services. RC had higher inpatient costs than TMT (2-years: $62,240 vs. $33,631, Median Difference $-29,174, H-L 95% CI, $-32,364-$-25,984; 5-years: $75,499 vs. $45,223, Median Difference $-29,843, H-L 95% CI, $-33,905-$-25,781).
The excess spending associated with trimodal therapy vs. radical cystectomy was largely driven by outpatient expenditures. The relatively high long-term trimodal therapy costs are prime targets for cost containment strategies to optimize future value-based care.
Urologic oncology. 2022 Feb 12 [Epub ahead of print]
Vishnukamal Golla, Yong Shan, Elias J Farran, Courtney A Stewart, Kevin Vu, Alexander Yu, Ali Raza Khaki, Divya Ahuja Parikh, Todd A Swanson, Kirk A Keegan, Ashish M Kamat, Douglas S Tyler, Stephen J Freedland, Stephen B Williams
Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, Duke University, Durham, NC; Section of Urology, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC., Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX., Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA., Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX., Department of Urologic Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN., Department of Urology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX., Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX., Division of Urology, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA; Section of Urology, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC., Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX. Electronic address: .
PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35168881
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