Economic burden of cancer in Europe exceeds 124 billion euros a year

New studies that reveal for the first time the real economic and human costs of caring for cancer patients in Europe have presented during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2012 Congress now taking place in Vienna, Austria. These showed that cancers cost the European Union 124 billion euros ($159.5 billion) each year, according to the first ever estimate of the economic burden of malignancies in the region. Lung cancer is responsible for the highest overall burden, the new study shows.

"Here we have two studies of enormous importance," noted Prof Peter Boyle, President of the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France, Member of the ESMO Faculty group on Cancer Prevention, who was not involved in the studies. "It is essential to have knowledge of the total costs of cancer and Dr Luengo-Fernandez and colleagues have performed a great service in preparing such a detailed report."

Ramon Luengo-Fernandez from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues included direct health costs such as primary care, hospital care and medications, as well as the cost of informal care and losses in productivity in their calculations. Their data came from a variety of sources including the WHO, the OECD and national ministries of health.