Estimating Cost Savings from Early Cancer Diagnosis

TL;DR

This paper estimates the significant treatment cost savings achievable through early cancer diagnosis across multiple cancer types in the U.S., providing a financial perspective on screening benefits.

Contribution

It combines published cost estimates and incidence data to quantify national treatment cost savings from early diagnosis and estimates the upper bound of screening costs.

Findings

Estimated annual U.S. cost savings in the billions

Early diagnosis could substantially reduce treatment expenses

Provides a rough upper bound on screening costs

Abstract

We estimate treatment cost-savings from early cancer diagnosis. For breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers and melanoma, which account for more than 50% of new incidences projected in 2017, we combine published cancer treatment cost estimates by stage with incidence rates by stage at diagnosis. We extrapolate to other cancer sites by using estimated national expenditures and incidence rates. A rough estimate for the U.S. national annual treatment cost-savings from early cancer diagnosis is in 11 digits. Using this estimate and cost-neutrality, we also estimate a rough upper bound on the cost of a routine early cancer screening test.