Economic burden of patients with leading cancers in China - a cost-of-illness study

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Miles

China represents 24% of newly diagnosed cancer cases and 30% of cancer-related deaths globally, yet comprehensive evidence on patients’ economic burden across treatment phases remains limited. This cost-of-illness study estimates patients’ financial burden and analyzes cost compositions for six leading cancers in China. Using EHR data from 84 hospitals across 17 provinces and patient surveys, it quantifies direct and indirect costs per case, identifies cost drivers, and compares burdens across clinical stages and phases.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Background

Cancer burden and gaps in evidence

Prior studies and variability

Rationale for full-phase costing

Wu et al. BMC Health Services Research (2024) 24:1135 BMC Health Services Research [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-11514-x](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-11514-x) RESEARCH Open Access Economic burden of patients with leading cancers in China: a cost-of-illness study Ziting Wu 1,2,3†, Yiwen Yu4,5*†, Feng Xie6,7, Qiushi Chen8, Zhong Cao9, Simiao Chen4,10 and Gordon G. Liu 1,2,3* Abstract Background China accounts for 24% of newly diagnosed cancer cases and 30% of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Comprehensive analyses of the economic burden on patients across different cancer treatment phases, based on empirical data, are lacking. This study aims to estimate the financial burden borne by patients and analyze the cost compositions ofthe leading cancers with the highest number of new cases in China. Methods This cross-sectional cost-of-illness study analyzed patients diagnosed with lung, breast, colorectal, esophageal, liver, or gastric cancer, identified through electronic health records (EHRs) from 84 hospitals across 17 provinces in China. Patients completed any one of the initial treatment phase, follow-up phase, and relapse/ metastasis phase were recruited by trained attending physicians through a stratified sampling procedure to ensure enough cases for each cancer progression stage and cancer treatment phase. Direct and indirect costs by treatment phase were collected from the EHRs and self-reported surveys. We estimated per case cost for each type of cancer, and employed subgroup analyses and multiple linear regression models to explore cost drivers. Results We recruited a total of 13,745 cancer patients across three treatment phases. The relapse/metastasis phase incurred the highest per case costs, varying from $8,890 to $14,572, while the follow-up phase was the least costly, ranging from $1,840 to $4,431 . Being in the relapse/metastasis phase and having an advanced clinical stage of cancer at diagnosis were associated with significantly higher cost, while patients with low socioeconomic status borne lower costs. Conclusions There were substantial financial burden on patients with six leading cancers in China. Health policymakers should emphasize comprehensive healthcare coverage for marginalized populations such as the uninsured, less educated, and those living in underdeveloped regions. Keywords Cost-of-illness, Cancer costs, China, Treatment phases †Ziting Wu andYiwen Yu contributed equally to this work. *Correspondence: Yiwen Yu [vivienne9090@hotmail.com](vivienne9090@hotmail.com)[ ](vivienne9090@hotmail.com)Gordon G. Liu [gordonliu@nsd.pku.edu.cn](gordonliu@nsd.pku.edu.cn) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://](http://)[ ](http://)[creativecommons.org/l](creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Wu et al. BMC Health Services Research (2024) 24:1135 Background Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, responsible for nearly 10 million death

FAQs

What does the study estimate for patients with leading cancers in China?

It estimates the financial burden borne by patients and analyzes cost compositions across initial treatment, follow-up, and relapse/metastasis phases for six leading cancers.

How were participants selected and which data sources were used?

Patients with lung, breast, colorectal, esophageal, liver, or gastric cancer were identified from EHRs across 84 hospitals in 17 provinces, with recruitment using stratified sampling. Direct and indirect costs came from EHRs and self-reported surveys.

Which treatment phase and clinical factors were associated with higher costs?

The relapse/metastasis phase incurred the highest per-case costs, and being in that phase and having an advanced clinical stage at diagnosis were linked to significantly higher costs.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Miles