Cancer Trends Progress Report

National expenditures associated with cancer have been steadily increasing in the United States. According to the article Projections of the Cost of Cancer Care in the United States: 2010-2020, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, care for cancer survivors accounted for an estimated $137.4 billion in medical care expenditures in the U.S. in 2010. Medical care expenditures were from Medicare per-patient costs. This included both Medicare payment and patient responsibilities for medical services such as hospitalizations, outpatient hospital services, physician/supplier services, infusion or injectable drugs, durable medical equipment, hospice care, and home health care. Expenditures did not include oral prescription drugs, which will be available in a future update, Per-patient costs were combined with prevalence to estimate national medical care expenditures.  

As the population ages, cancer prevalence and the absolute number of people treated for cancer will increase, even if cancer incidence rates remain constant or decrease somewhat. An Evaluation of trends in the cost of initial cancer treatment, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, shows costs are also likely to increase as new, more advanced, and more expensive treatments are adopted as standards of care. The estimates presented here are based on cancer prevalence estimates modeled through 2018. The average annual costs of care are based on the Projections of the Cost of Cancer Care in the United States: 2010-2020 study, that used 2008-2010 data. This report will include updated estimates as they become available.

The national economic burden of cancer care in 2018 is shown below for bladder, brain, female breast, cervical, colorectal, esophageal, head and neck, kidney, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, stomach, and uterine cancers, as well as lymphoma, leukemia, and melanoma. All other cancers are combined as a single category.

National expenditures were largest for female breast, colorectal, prostate, lymphoma, and lung cancers, reflecting prevalence of disease, treatment patterns, and costs for different types of care.