This paper considers standard effective treatments for non-Hodgkin's lympho
ma and early breast cancer in premenopausal women. The literature assesses
the treatments' effectiveness, and expected charges for different treatment
s in the context of the Belgian Health Insurance System are compared. Ovari
ectomy in breast cancer (770 ECU) and conventional chemotherapy in non-Hodg
kin (2,745 lymphoma ECU) prove equally effective and are less costly in com
parison with chemotherapy (1,904 ECU) in breast cancer or chemotherapy and
autologous bone marrow transplantation (19,262 ECU) in non-Hodgkin's lympho
ma. Further unbiased insights in competitive treatments' costs and outcome
could save money and enhance developments in cancer care.