TREATING ACUTE LEUKEMIAS - A VENTURE INTO ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY - A METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE COST OF TREATING PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYELOCYTIC-LEUKEMIA

The objective of this paper is to report a method for estimating the c ost of treating acute myelocytic leukaemia (AML). It is based on indiv idual data from 54 patients treated with aggressive induction courses of chemotherapy. The study records the cost of the entire survival per iod for 40 patients and of at least 16 months' survival for the remain ing 14 patients. All treatment activities were registered from the pat ient records and the price of each activity was estimated. As far as p ossible the principle of opportunity cost was used. The median surviva l time was 50 weeks and the average cost per patient was c. 300 000 SE K (=c. USD 50 000) in 1988 prices. A young man who achieved three remi ssions and lived for five years had the highest cost, c. 1 million SEK (= USD 155 000). The costs for AML treatment was higher in the 1980s than in the 1970s but led to longer survival for patients who survived the initial period.