OBJECTIVES:

Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death in Greece. The economic burden of BC is substantial and has been steadily increasing. The aim of this study was to provide the first estimate on the direct costs associated with the management of metastatic BC (mBC) in Greece.

METHODS:

The methodology used in our study follows the standards of the micro-costing approach in cost-of-illness (COI) analyses. A retrospective COI study was conducted from the Greek National Organization for Health Care Provision perspective for a 12-month period. The prevalence of mBC derives from the data available at GLOBOCAN and recent bibliography. The total number of mBC patients in Greece is estimated at 1.786. The COI model approximates the real-life annual cost of mBC as the sum of drug acquisition, resource use, adverse events management, and hospitalization costs.

RESULTS:

The annual cost of mBC in Greece was estimated at €89,949,376. The key cost driver is the drug acquisition cost of disease-specific treatments, which is estimated at €72,176,624 (80.24% of the total cost). Of the total cost, 12.27%, 3.20%, 3.03%, and 1.25% represent the drug acquisition cost of supportive treatment, resource use, hospitalization, and adverse events management costs, respectively. Total costs of managing mBC per patient per year are estimated at €49,974.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results from the present analysis show that mBC comprises a significant economic burden for the Greek healthcare system, mainly driven by disease-specific treatment costs. Despite some limitations, the present study constitutes the first comprehensive COI analysis in patients with mBC and provides health care decision-makers with an insight into the substantial cost of mBC in Greece. In light of the clinical and economic burden associated with mBC, new therapeutic options, ideally accompanied with biomarkers, are of high value.