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Investing in advanced colorectal cancer screening programs, with the exception of colonoscopy may more than double the savings associated with the cost of expensive chemotherapy treatments in the near future, according to data published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute this week

“Given the potential cost savings from screening, screening not only is desirable from the perspective of governments and insurance companies to reduce colorectal cancer incidence and mortality but also will help to contain the increasing costs for the management of colorectal cancer,” researchers wrote.

To examine the cost savings of colorectal cancer screening in the face of newer, more expensive chemotherapies, researchers used the MISCAN-Colon microsimulation model. They considered three scenarios of chemotherapy use: past, present and near future, assuming that survival improved and treatment costs increased for patients diagnosed with advanced disease at each scenario. Screening methods included annual guaiac fecal occult blood test, annual immunochemical fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy every five years, colonoscopy every 10 years and the combination of sigmoidoscopy every five years and annual guaiac fecal occult blood test.

According to the researchers, in the near-future scenario, an individual’s lifetime average treatment savings were greater than the lifetime average screening costs with Hemoccult II ($1,398 vs. $859), immunochemical fecal occult blood test ($1,756 vs. $1,565), sigmoidoscopy ($1,706 vs. $1,575) and sigmoidoscopy and Hemoccult II combined ($1,931 vs. $1,878). Colonoscopy was not associated with cost savings; however, the total net costs of colonoscopy decreased from $1,317 to $296 per person.

“This analysis revealed that it takes 25 to 40 years after the start of a screening strategy before the treatment savings of that strategy outweigh its costs,” the researchers wrote. “This finding has important implications for insurance companies. If insurers anticipate that beneficiaries will not stay in their program for more than five years, they may be less inclined to cover a colorectal cancer screening program despite the long-term savings of such a program.”

You can discuss more about Gastroenterology & Endoscopy in our regional group.

Source: HemOnc Today