[Health Economic Evaluation of Surgical Treatment for Cancer]

Conducting"health economic evaluation"is one of the most important issues for the efficient allocation of healthcare costs. Although the Central Social Insurance Medical Council in Japan(Chuikyo)introduced a cost-effectiveness evaluation system for drugs and medical devices in 2019, there are no reports of the system being officially utilized for medical procedures, including surgical treatments. Because it is often required to provide the best possible treatment to save lives, cancer care is an area where it is difficult to adapt"health economic evaluation". In addition, surgical treatment is more invasive than medical checkups or drug therapy, and complications and hospitalization costs vary widely from case to case, so the cooperation of the medical affairs department is essential in examining medical costs for health economic evaluation. Although QOL surveys are important for the evaluation of invasiveness, there are almost no large-scale studies that reflect the actual conditions of treatment, and none for Japanese and for patients undergoing cancer treatment. It is essential to conduct QOL surveys for future health economic evaluation. We will explain"health economic evaluation"of surgical treatment for cancer, using as examples the results of medical technology evaluation of surgical techniques that we have reviewed. In considering the"health economic evaluation"of surgical treatment for cancer, the medical cost and QOL surveys were considered to be particularly important. We look forward to future research.