Cost of pretherapeutic staging of patients with colorectal cancer metastases in a French population.

Summary Background Little is known about the economic burden of pretherapeutic staging of patients presenting colorectal cancer metastases. Objective The aim of this study was to estimate the cost of pretherapeutic staging and identify cost determinants for 132 patients presenting colorectal metastases and living in the north-east of France. Method Staging cost was estimated using direct medical costs from the point of view of the French Health Insurance System. Independent factors were identified using a linear regression model, and bootstrap resampling was used to estimate unbiased standard errors and 95% confidence intervals. Results The overall mean cost for pretherapeutic staging was estimated to be 1534 € [95% CI: 1250 €–1818 €]. Staging costs increased significantly with the number of medical procedures performed during the staging, and according to health care patterns (in-patient hospital stay versus out-patient episodes, public versus private care). Conclusion These results could now be used to estimate the impact of new imaging techniques on clinical practices and pretherapeutic staging costs.