Re: cost of brachytherapy in prostate cancer treatment
Hello Isaac,
Welcome to the board!
Your question below I take to mean costs of brachy in different areas of the US. It could mean compared to other therapies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by isaac54
comparative cost of brachytherapy in treating prostate cancer in USA
I'll just provide a few leads and facts for now. An outfit known as the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review published some information about treatment costs per Medicare rates for:
"Brachytherapy $10,000"
"IMRT $20,000"
and Proton Beam Therapy "$50,000 or more".
Some doctors prefer a brachy/IMRT or Proton/IMRT combination for their patients.
The ICER is a consortium of academic, government, insurance and medical representatives that is tryring to assess treatment effectiveness and value issues. It involves a number of leading academic institutions. You could check its publications to see if they describe rates of treatment around the US.
In 2000 (a very long time ago in prostate cancer time), a UCLA study of treatment costs was published by the American Cancer Society. It priced the average brachytherapy (alone) treatment at $15,301 and external beam with seeds at $24,407. There may be an update to that study.
At one leading institution in Florida, the lead doctor wrote in 2005 that costs for IMRT could be $35,000 or more, in addition to hospital fees and lab tests. (He does highly sophisticated, advanced image-guided planning and treatment, so costs are higher.) It's clear there is a lot of variation.
You could also check some of the well-known institutions around the US who are used to communicating with those outside their areas. With a little more work, you could get on the phone to less well-known institutions. You could also check www.pubmed.gov, a site we can use on this board because it is Government sponsored, and search for something like (without the quotation marks) " prostate cancer AND brachytherapy ". You'll get a lot of hits, and when you check the authors lists, you will see their institutions. You could check with those contacts also.
I hope this gives you a start.
Jim
The Following User Says Thank You to IADT3since2000 For This Useful Post: Palmeiras (02-24-2011)
Re: cost of brachytherapy in prostate cancer treatment
I had the brachytherapy plus seed implantation. Each IMRT session was about $3000 and the seeding ran another $35,000. All told with 30 regular sessions, seeding, touch-up IMRT sessions(5) and all the testing, it came to about $150,000.
Re: cost of brachytherapy in prostate cancer treatment
Hi b,
That cost of around $150,000 - $35,000 = $115,000 (with testing not stated), or 30+5=35 sessions X $3,000 = $105,000 for the IMRT is a lot higher than the figures I'm used to hearing. It's even very high for proton therapy. Is there something that explains the high cost? I'm wondering if modern advanced imaging and testing is boosting costs a lot.
Jim
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwhitney
I had the brachytherapy plus seed implantation. Each IMRT session was about $3000 and the seeding ran another $35,000. All told with 30 regular sessions, seeding, touch-up IMRT sessions(5) and all the testing, it came to about $150,000.
Re: cost of brachytherapy in prostate cancer treatment
I said $3000/sessions. It was probably somewhat less than that but not a lot. My insurance gave me a $3000 daily limit for treatment and many times I went over that with another test or minor procedure here and there. I'll go through my records and see what the exact cost was per session. I just know after all was said and done it cost right around $150,000
Re: cost of brachytherapy in prostate cancer treatment
I couldn't find any billing statements but I did find some insurance statements. There are some variations in the daily charges but the price of $2840 appears a lot. Had to be the radiation sessions. I won't mention where I was for treatment since I am not sure that is allowed in this instance, but I think you know. B
Quote:
Originally Posted by IADT3since2000
Hi b,
That cost of around $150,000 - $35,000 = $115,000 (with testing not stated), or 30+5=35 sessions X $3,000 = $105,000 for the IMRT is a lot higher than the figures I'm used to hearing. It's even very high for proton therapy. Is there something that explains the high cost? I'm wondering if modern advanced imaging and testing is boosting costs a lot.
Re: cost of brachytherapy in prostate cancer treatment
Hi, Loma Linda does Proton Therapy at cost for those without insurance and pay cash. $37,000 if you have a Social Insurance Number and $68,000 if you are a foreigner like myself. You may be able to negotiate a better rate depending on your circumstances. For Brachytherapy check out RCOG in Atlanta. When I visited in 2004 it was $6,000 for the seed implants and $16,000 for the conformal beam radiation.
I eventually chose Loma Linda and I am very happy with the results.
< edited >
Last edited by hb-mod; 03-04-2011 at 02:57 PM.
Reason: Please don't post unapproved website links, per Posting Policy. Thanks.
Re: cost of brachytherapy in prostate cancer treatment
Quote:
Originally Posted by slimharpo
Hi, Loma Linda does Proton Therapy at cost for those without insurance and pay cash. $37,000 if you have a Social Insurance Number and $68,000 if you are a foreigner like myself. You may be able to negotiate a better rate depending on your circumstances. For Brachytherapy check out RCOG in Atlanta. When I visited in 2004 it was $6,000 for the seed implants and $16,000 for the conformal beam radiation.
I eventually chose Loma Linda and I am very happy with the results.
< edited >
Great prices! It cost $35000 for the seed implantation and an average of $3,000 per ebrt session at the Dattoli Cancer Clinic. That was with insurance.
