Prostate Treatment Cost – How Much Is Cancer Treatment?

Prostate treatment cost varies widely depending on the severity of the disorder and the type of therapy. But since cancer treatment is notoriously expensive, several groups have compiled statistics on it, particularly cancer of the prostate treatment cost.

Prostate Treatment Cost – Recent Cancer Treatment Study

One of the most recent studies was published in a February 2006 issue of Cancer, the medical journal of the University of California in San Francisco. The study revealed that the typical five-year cancer of the prostate treatment cost is $42,570-cumulative. Watch My Prostate Video 

The study tracked cancer of the prostate treatment cost in over 4,500 patients who had just been diagnosed with the disease.

Prostate Treatment Cost Study – Which Treatments Did Patients Prefer?

What kind of prostate treatment was selected depended on a patient’s risk at his cancer stage as well as his age, researchers said, to wit:
- High risk, older subjects wanted costlier methods (e.g., androgen deprivation and external radiation therapy).
- Lower risk, younger subjects generally wanted the cheaper prostatectomy.

Prostate Treatment Cost Study – Findings

The 2006 California study revealed the following regarding cancer of the prostate treatment cost.
1. In the initial 6 months following diagnosis, the average treatment cost was $11,495.
2. Individual expenses varied widely: for watchful waiting it was $2,568, for external radiation it was $24,204.
3. After 6 months, mean annual expense was $7,740/patient. For watchful waiting=$5,843 and for androgen deprivation treatment=$12,590.
4. Overall mean per-patient expense over 5½ years=$42,570. For watchful waiting=$32,135 and for androgen deprivation=$69,244.

Prostate Treatment Cost – Conclusions

Therefore, cancer of the prostate treatment cost per patient is both substantial as well as sustained over the long term.

A patient shouldn’t really decide on his treatment based purely on hospital/clinic literature, which only lists short term treatment expenses.

Comparing the cost of services between institutions by these fixed amounts can’t really take into consideration the total prostate treatment cost over the duration of the treatment.

If you’re trying to decide which prostate treatment to undergo, you will also have to consider what your insurance is willing to pay for. If you find the costs outlined in the study staggering, you could look into less expensive, less invasive treatments.

But the latest prostate cancer treatments use new technology, which are often classified as “experimental” by insurance companies. This means that you may have to pay for your prostrate treatment cost out of your own pocket if you opt for them.