Health-related quality of life and costs in breast, prostate and colorectal cancer : a special focus on colorectal cancer

Background and aims Cancer is a huge burden to patients, families and to societies in both human and monetary terms. Breast (BC), prostate (PC) and colorectal (CRC) cancer are the three most common cancer types in Finland. Due to improved survival, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) aspects are gaining increasing attention in cancer care. Understanding the cost and HRQoL consequences of different treatment choices is critical to be able to use scarce health-care resources optimally. The aims of this thesis were to evaluate costs and patient-reported HRQoL using three standard instruments (15D, EQ-5D-3L+VAS and EORTC QLQ-C30) in all phases of CRC, to assess HRQoL among end-stage BC, PC and CRC patients, and to assess the direct economic burden of BC, PC and CRC for patients and analyse what are its implications for HRQoL. Patients and methods A total of 1978 cancer patients from the Helsinki and Uusimaa region having either BC (840), PC (630) or CRC (508) participated in this observational cross-sectional study. Patients were recruited between 2009 and 2011 from different phases of the disease and divided into five mutually exclusive groups according to the stage of their disease: primary treatments; rehabilitation; remission; metastatic disease; and palliative care. Patients completed a questionnaire, which in addition to the HRQoL questionnaires, enquired about demographic factors, health care and informal care resource utilization and work capacity. Furthermore, data on direct medical resource use in both primary and secondary care and productivity costs were obtained from several different registries. Multivariate regression modelling was used to find determinants of deteriorated HRQoL and cost drivers. Results The HRQoL of CRC patients is fairly good compared to age-, gender- and education-standardized general population except for those under palliative care. The 15D gave highest scores across all states compared to EQ-5D and VAS. Fatigue, pain, age and financial difficulties were strongly associated with impaired HRQoL. The total six-month costs of CRC varied between disease states from €2106 in rehabilitation to €22,200 in the primary treatment state. The costs were highest at the beginning and in the advanced phases of the disease. Most of the CRC-related costs were direct medical costs. Productivity costs were highest in the primary treatment state (40%) and informal care costs highest in the palliative phase (33%). Outpatient medication was responsible for the major part of patients’ out-of-pocket (OOP) payments. High OOP payments were associated with financial difficulties and deteriorated HRQoL. Conclusions All instruments were applicable for the evaluation of HRQoL of cancer patients in all states of the disease, however the results the different instruments provided varied significantly. Cost of CRC is driven by direct health-care costs in the intense primary care and metastatic phase. Financial difficulties are a substantial burden to some and they have a clear negative impact on patients’ HRQoL. Outcomes and costs of the care should be measured routinely in health care to ensure scare resources are used to maximize patients’ health.