Cancer Trends Progress Report

National expenditures associated with cancer have been steadily increasing in the United States. Care for cancer survivors accounted for an estimated $137.4 billion in medical care expenditures in the United States 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. 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 to 2018 and the costs of care which came from the period 2008-2010 depending on the cancer site. 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.