Cancer Trial Costs Similar to Standard Care Costs

Bolstering the argument that insurers should cover patients' costs during clinical trials, several researchers have released data here showing that charges are nearly identical for cancer patients in trials or getting the same drugs and care outside of a clinical study.

The studies were presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) 36th Annual Meeting. ASCO and several patient advocacy organizations have been lobbying Congress and private insurers to cover the costs of clinical trials. They say more patients would take part in studies if they did not have to fear paying large out-of-pocket costs.

One group of researchers studied charges for 35 cancer patients who were in a phase II clinical study at five different cancer centers. Six months of charges for those patients were compared to 35 patients with the same disease treated at similar cancer facilities, but who were not in clinical trials.

The patients in trials were charged $57,542 over the 6 months, compared with $63,721 for those getting standard care, said Dr.Charles Bennett of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University. The difference between the two groups' charges was not significant, he said.

Bennett said he and his colleagues plan to next study charges for patients in phase III studies, which will cover a longer period of time. And, he said, to be more accurate, the researchers hope to get actual cost data, not just what the patients are charged.

A second study also found little to no difference in costs between patients in trials and getting standard care. Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York looked back at hospital costs and physician charges for patients at its own facility. Seventy-seven were in phase II or phase III studies, and 75 had been given standard care.