ECONOMICAL EVALUATION OF LUNG-CANCER - THEORETICAL APPROACHES AND PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATIONS

There has been an increasing number of publications dealing with the a ssessment of treatments or medical strategies. Chronic diseases like l ung cancer require such an analysis, in relation to their costs and th eir poor efficacy. In its first part, this review shows the theoretica l basis of economic assessment, the available tools and the limits of these methods. The second part points out their use in lung cancer: co st evaluation of these cancers for the society, economic assessment of new chemotherapic drugs, cost-effectiveness analysis in randomized tr ials. These methods give to the clinicians complementary results for t heir final decision.