Get Behind Bowel Screening Campaign - 2010
June 2010
Available for interview:
- Anita Tang - Chair, National Bowel Cancer Screening Committee, Cancer Council
- Dr Sumitra Ananda - MBBS FRACP Medical Oncologist at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Research Fellow, BioGrid Australia
- Professor John Zalcberg OAM - Chief Medical Officer and Director, Division Haematology & Medical Oncology, Chair, Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
- Jan Farelly - Bowel cancer survivor and program participant
- Dr Graeme Jones - General practitioner, bowel cancer survivor and program participant
- Other case studies - Bowel cancer survivors and people who have lost loved ones to bowel cancer
New research: Escalating bowel cancer treatment costs in Australia
Findings from a new study undertaken by a group of researchers from Royal Melbourne Hospital and BioGrid Australia*
Key findings:
- Bowel cancer treatment costs has dramatically escalated over 10 years
- Cost of treating bowel cancer in Australia likely to be around $1 billion in 2011
- Reasons:
- Increasing incidence
- Survival improvement – treating people longer
- New effective but costly therapies
- The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) can potentially save both lives and costs
Increasing treatment costs
| |
Current
estimates |
Previous estimates
(1999 costs) (1) |
Percentage
increase |
| Stage 1 |
$30,890 |
$17,148 |
46% |
| Stage 2 |
$47,534 |
$33,364 |
17% |
| Stage 3 |
$74,225 |
$25,771 |
180% |
| Stage 4 |
$61,423 |
$6,264 |
710% |
(1) O’Leary BA, Olynky JK, Neville AM, et al. Cost-effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening: Comparison of community-based flexible sigmoidoscopy with faecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2004; 19: 38-47.
In the past 10 years treatment costs have increased for cancers at all stages. There have been huge increases in the cost of treating Stage 3 and 4 cancers, largely due to the increased chemotherapy options and the introduction of more effective but expensive drug regimes.
Bowel cancer stage of distribution
| |
NBCSP screened |
Unscreened |
| Stage 1 |
43% |
17% |
| Stage 2 |
27% |
37% |
| Stage 3 |
27% |
29% |
| Stage 4 |
3 % |
18% |
This table shows that the majority of patients diagnosed after participation in the NBCSP are found with cancers at Stage 1 or 2. In contrast, patients diagnosed outside the program, are more likely to be found with later stage disease. In fact, the NBCSP is finding twice the rate of Stage 1 cancers (the most treatable) than outside the program.
5-year survival rates
| |
New estimates |
Previous estimates (1) |
| Stage 1 |
87% |
89% |
| Stage 2 |
81 % |
79% |
| Stage 3 |
64%
|
35% |
| Stage 4 |
16% |
1% |
New estimates
| |
New estimates |
Previous estimates (1) |
| Stage 1 |
87% |
89% |
| Stage 2 |
81% |
79% |
| Stage 3 |
64% |
35% |
| Stage 4 |
16% |
1% |
New treatment options have led to improved survival rates. This is most evident in Stage 3 and 4 cancers.
*About BioGrid
www.biogrid.org.au/wps/portal
BioGrid is a unique platform for life science research teams to access and share genetic and clinical research data across multiple organisations in an ethically approved and secure way, using the world wide web.