Economic burden of anal cancer management in France

The incidence of anal cancer has increased over the last 25 years. No organized screening exists for the precursors of anal cancer (anal intraepithelial neoplasia and carcinoma in situ) and diagnosis is often delayed. Treatment for precursor lesions is of limited success, while cancer management is traumatic for the patient. Like cancers of the cervix, most cases of anal cancer are associated with infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). With increases in the incidence of anal cancer, and in light of the availability of prevention strategies such as screening and HPV vaccination, it is important, from a public health perspective, to assess the economic burden of anal cancer in France.

We performed a retrospective analysis based on data extracted from a French hospital database - the Programme de médicalisation des systèmes d'information (PMSI) - to assess the number and management of patients hospitalized for anal cancer in 2006. Data on radiotherapy sessions performed in private hospitals were obtained from the Statistiques annuelles des établissements de santé (SAE) database. Costs of hospitalization, from the healthcare-payer perspective, were obtained from official diagnosis-related group tariffs for public and private hospitals. Ambulatory and indirect costs were estimated using information obtained from the literature.

In 2006, 3,711 patients with anal cancer were treated in hospitals in France. Of these, the majority were women (69%). The annual cost of hospital treatment for anal cancer was estimated at € 20,326,868. The overall estimated cost (including hospitalization, outpatient and daily allowances costs) to the healthcare payer was € 38,249,981.

This study, the first to investigate the economic burden of anal cancer in France, shows that the management costs of anal cancer are high and comparable to cervical cancer management costs (€ 44 million). Further research is required to determine the cost of management of precursor lesions, which is mostly performed in an outpatient setting. Prophylactic HPV vaccination could significantly reduce the burden of this disease.