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Cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening: Preliminary results of a systematic review of the literature

  • Cost analysis of diagnosis and treatment in breast cancer — Mini-symposium
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Summary

There is now considerable concern that universal access to health care within realistic resource constraints requires some sort of cost-effectiveness analysis of given medical procedures and interventions. One such intervention is routine mammographic screening for breast cancer. Here, we report preliminary results from an ongoing project to conduct a systematic and comprehensive review and comparison of the published cost-effectiveness analyses of screening for the early detection of breast cancer. We examine 16 such studies, and compare two studies in detail to explain how differences in assumptions and in consideration of down-stream effects have caused the published results for apparently comparable breast cancer screening programs to span a broad range.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Research Branch, Surveillance Program, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Martin L. Brown Ph.D. & Lou Fintor M.A., M.P.H.

Authors
  1. Martin L. Brown Ph.D.
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  2. Lou Fintor M.A., M.P.H.
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Additional information

This minisymposium was presented December 8, 1992, at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, and was sponsored by educational grants from Amgen and from Bristol-Myers Oncology Division.

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Brown, M.L., Fintor, L. Cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening: Preliminary results of a systematic review of the literature. Breast Cancer Res Tr 25, 113–118 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00662136

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