The Economic Cost of Thyroid Cancer in France and the Corresponding Share Associated With Treatment of Overdiagnosed Cases
Open accessAbstract
Objectives Thyroid cancer incidence in France has increased rapidly in recent decades. Most of this increase has been attributed to overdiagnosis, the major consequence of which is overtreatment. We aimed to estimate the cost of thyroid cancer management in France and the corresponding cost proportion attributable to the treatment of overdiagnosed cases. Methods Multiple data sources were integrated: the mean cost per patient with thyroid cancer was estimated by using the Echantillon Généraliste des Bénéficiaires data set; thyroid cancer cases attributable to overdiagnosis were estimated for 21 departments using data from the French network of cancer registries and extrapolated to the whole country; medical records from 6 departments were used to refine the diagnosis and care pathway. Results Between 2011 and 2015, 33 911 women and 10 846 men in France were estimated to be diagnosed of thyroid cancer, with mean cost per capita of €6248. Among those treated, 8114 to 14 925 women and 1465 to 3626 men were due to overdiagnosis. The total cost of thyroid cancer patient management was €203.5 million (€154.3 million for women and €49.3 million for men), of which between €59.9 million (or 29.4% of the total cost, lower bound) and €115.9 million (or 56.9% of the total cost, upper bound) attributable to treatment of overdiagnosed cases. Conclusions The management of thyroid cancer represents not only a relevant clinical and public health problem in France but also a potentially important economic burden. Overdiagnosis and corresponding associated treatments play an important role on the total costs of thyroid cancer management.
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Overdiagnosis and corresponding associated treatments have a significant impact on the total costs of thyroid cancer management, as recently measured in France.
“Overdiagnosis and corresponding associated treatments have a significant impact on the total costs of thyroid cancer management, as recently measured in France.149”
From Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. (2024) · cites this paper as [149]
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- Authors
- Li, M., Meheus, F., Polazzi, S., Delafosse, P., Borson-Chazot, F., Seigneurin, A., Simon, R., Combes, J.-D., Dal Maso, L., Colonna, M., Duclos, A., & Vaccarella, S.
- Affiliations
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- World Health Organization (CH)
- Centre international de recherche sur le cancer (FR)
- Lyon 1 Université (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Vaccarella, Salvatore
- ORCID
- Venue
- Value in Health
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-08
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1175-1182
- ISSN
- 1098-3015 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4324044629
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 3.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Value in Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (21879)
- Institut National Du Cancer (2017-138)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic and Financial Impacts of Cancer
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery
- Keywords
- thyroid cancer, overdiagnosis, overtreatment, economic burden, health care costs, cancer incidence
- MeSH terms
- Female, France, Humans, Male, Thyroid Neoplasms, Incidence
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