Using appropriate comparisons in economic evaluations. An exercise in Belgium

This paper considers standard effective treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and early breast cancer in premenopausal women. The literature assesses the treatments' effectiveness, and expected charges for different treatments in the context of the Belgian Health Insurance System are compared. Ovariectomy in breast cancer (770 ECU) and conventional chemotherapy in non-Hodgkin (2,745 lymphoma ECU) prove equally effective and are less costly in comparison with chemotherapy (1,904 ECU) in breast cancer or chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation (19,262 ECU) in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Further unbiased insights in competitive treatments' costs and outcome could save money and enhance developments in cancer care.