Total Lifetime and Cancer-related Costs for Elderly Patients Diagnosed With Anal Cancer in the United States

Objective: To determine the lifetime and phase-specific cost of anal cancer management and the economic burden of anal cancer care in elderly (66 y and older) patients in the United States. Patients and Methods: For this study, we used Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare linked database (1992 to 2009). We matched newly diagnosed anal cancer patients (by age and sex) to noncancer controls. We estimated survival time from the date of diagnosis until death. Lifetime and average annual cost by stage and age at diagnosis were estimated by combining survival data with Medicare claims. The average lifetime cost, proportion of patients who were elderly, and the number of incident cases were used to estimate the economic burden. Results: The average lifetime cost for patients with anal cancer was US$50,150 (N = 2227) (2014 US dollars). The average annual cost in men and women was US$8025 and US$5124, respectively. The overall survival after the diagnosis of cancer was 8.42 years. As the age and stage at diagnosis increased, so did the cost of cancer-related care. The anal cancer-related lifetime economic burden in Medicare patients in the United States was US$112 million. Conclusions: Although the prevalence of anal cancer among the elderly in the United States is small, its economic burden is considerable.