Estimation of the Costs of Invasive Cervical Cancer Treatment in Brazil: A Micro-Costing Study.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the present study was to estimate the annual treatment costs of invasive cervical cancer (ICC) per patient at an oncology center in Brazil from a societal perspective by considering direct medical, direct nonmedical, and indirect costs.

METHODS: A cost analysis descriptive study, in which direct medical, direct nonmedical, and indirect costs were collected using a microcosting approach, was conducted between May 2014 and July 2016 from a societal perspective. The study population consisted of women diagnosed with ICC admitted to a tertiary hospital in Recife, state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The annual cost per patient was estimated in terms of the value of American Dollars (US$) in 2016.

RESULTS: From a societal perspective, the annual ICC treatment cost per patient was US$ 2,219.73. Direct medical costs were responsible for 81.2% of the total value, of which radiotherapy and outpatient chemotherapy had the largest share. Under the base-case assumption, the estimated cost to the national budget of a year of ICC treatment in the Brazilian population was US$ 25,954,195.04.

CONCLUSION: We found a high economic impact of health care systems treating ICC in a poor region of Brazil. These estimates could be applicable to further evaluations of the cost-effectiveness of preventing and treating ICC.