Cancer in the oropharynx: Cost calculation of different treatment modalities for controlled primaries, relapses and grade III/IV complications

Quality of life of oropharyngeal cancer patients treated with brachytherapy

“…QoL does not seem to be affected by the increased local radiation dose given when BT is included in the treatment regimen. In addition to better local control and sparing, Nijdam et al [32] reported on the cost-effectiveness of this type of treatment; the mean total cost for patients treated with BT is lower compared with those treated with EBRT only or surgery.…”

“…Patients were classifi ed according to the 2004 edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer's staging manual [38]. A detailed treatment protocol was described in earlier papers [6,7,18,32,39]. The 336 patients with no evidence of disease (NED) received three types of questionnaires: 1) the EORTC core QoL (QLQ)-C30 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35, which include a swallowing scale with four items (problems with swallowing liquid, pureed food, or solid food, and aspiration when swallowing) [40]; 2) the Performance Status Scale of List et al [41], which includes a Normalcy of Diet item [41], and 3) the M.D.…”

Longitudinal changes in quality of life and costs in long-term survivors of tumors of the oropharynx treated with brachytherapy or surgery

“…Costs were based on 2001 pricings and stated in euros (V). For a detailed description of the cost calculation the reader is referred to Nijdam et al's work (10,12).…”

“…For the calculation of costs per life year, we used the cost calculation as mentioned above as a base, using the actual survival data for this patient group, which has been reported earlier (10,12). To determine costs per life year, one needs (1) date of diagnosis, (2) date of relapse, and (3) date of death.…”

“…In a recent article (12), costs of treatment of cancer of the oropharynx with regard to the three treatment modalities, that is BT, surgery and EBRT were reported. In this analysis costs, generated by the treatment of the primary tumor per se, the costs of (salvage of) a locoregional relapse, and the costs generated by the (treatment of) serious, that is RTOG Grade III/IV and complications for which hospitalization is needed, were calculated.…”