Aging population, higher drug prices will push US cancer care costs to least $158 billion in 2020, says NIH

Based on growth and aging of the US population, medical expenditures for cancer in the year 2020 are projected to reach at least $158 billion (in 2010 dollars) - an increase of 27% over 2010, according to a National Institutes of Health analysis. If newly developed tools for cancer diagnosis, treatment and follow-up continue to be more expensive, medical expenditures for cancer could reach as high as $207 billion, said the researchers from the National Cancer Institute, part of the NIH. The analysis appears on-line in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The projections were based on the most recent data available on cancer incidence, survival, and costs of care. In 2010, medical costs associated with cancer were projected to reach $127.6 billion, with the highest costs associated with breast cancer ($16.5 billion), followed by colorectal cancer ($14 billion), lymphoma ($12 billion), lung cancer ($12 billion) and prostate cancer ($12 billion).

If cancer incidence and survival rates and costs remain stable and the US population ages at the rate predicted by the US Census Bureau, direct cancer care expenditures would reach $158 billion in 2020, the report said.