Table 2. Annual Medicare Anticancer and Supportive Costs by Year After Diagnosis and Subgroup.
| Year, No. | Cost, mean (SD), 2021 $a | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR+ and ERBB2− | HR+ and ERBB2+ | HR− and ERBB2+ | TNBC | |
| Anticancer drugs | ||||
| 1 | 46 712 (57 730) | 131 548 (127 805) | 118 062 (96 187) | 26 150 (48 822) |
| 2 | 39 214 (50 637) | 117 219 (110 026) | 115 625 (78 494) | 33 244 (55 952) |
| 3 | 38 776 (47 238) | 107 610 (108 382) | 117 025 (80 768) | 43 516 (63 291) |
| 4 | 41 320 (53 220) | 109 023 (96 450) | 118 856 (89 967) | 62 346 (172 839) |
| 5 | 39 171 (48 296) | 105 645 (88 970) | 111 474 (78 176) | 85 852 (172 054) |
| 6 | 38 779 (46 545) | 102 221 (87 178) | 130 082 (73 301) | 52 524 (77 622) |
| 7 | 37 129 (48 385) | 98 847 (80 860) | 106 437 (59 636) | 21 937 (16 441) |
| 8 | 35 012 (44 659) | 88 158 (88 649) | 86 324 (66 778) | 10 548 (14 870) |
| 9 | 31 986 (43 401) | 63 440 (62 965) | 71 524 (55 226) | NA |
| 10 | 31 968 (46 348) | 79 695 (63 980) | 25 218 (22 848) | NA |
| All yearsb | 98 350 (114 794) | 323 882 (369 573) | 272 434 (311 797) | 42 938 (99 523) |
| Supportive drugsc | ||||
| 1 | 2967 | 6985 | 9116 | 8554 |
| 2 | 2618 | 2476 | 3278 | 7027 |
| 3 | 2567 | 2299 | 2347 | 7671 |
| 4 | 3052 | 2335 | 1725 | 3683 |
| 5 | 2681 | 2231 | 2032 | 3382 |
| 6 | 2420 | 1765 | 1882 | 1561 |
| 7 | 1820 | 1600 | 711 | 1820 |
| 8 | 1858 | 1989 | 642 | NA |
| 9 | 1253 | 1926 | NA | NA |
| 10 | 751 | NA | NA | NA |
| All years | 6424 | 10 930 | 12 175 | 11 417 |
| Total cost c | ||||
| All years | 104 774 | 334 812 | 284 609 | 54 355 |
Abbreviations: −, negative; +, positive; ERBB2, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; HR, hormone receptor; NA, not applicable; TNBC, triple negative breast cancer.
Means and SDs of anticancer costs for all patients in a particular subgroup and year of treatment since diagnosis, irrespective of year of diagnosis.
Note that the listed cost for all years for anticancer, supportive and total cost represent the mean cumulative cost per patient by subgroup; this cost is less than the sum of year 1 through year 10 because not all patients had 10 years of treatment data.
Given that not all patients receiving anticancer drugs in a particular subgroup and year receive supportive care drugs, the reported means reflect the ratio of the total amount spent on supportive care over the total number of patients receiving anticancer drugs in that year number and subgroup. eTable 9 in Supplement 1 shows the mean and median only for patients receiving supportive care, as well as their percentage of all patients within a subgroup by year. As such, the median supportive care cost for most years is 0, and a measure of SD would not be informative.