OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the direct annual costs of various types of cancer to patients in the United States from an all-payer perspective.

METHODS: 2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data were utilized to identify adults with bladder (n = 39), breast (n = 222), colorectal (n = 60), kidney (n = 39), and prostate cancer (n = 163), as well as leukemia (n = 42) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (n = 37). The study population consisted of 22,849 adult survey participants, and those not identified as cancer patients were classified as controls in the analysis. An excess cost approach was employed, where overall direct medical expenditures of cancer patients were compared with those of non-cancer patients using multivariate linear least-squares regression to control for possible confounders such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking status, marital status, and years of education. All analyses were stratified by cancer type.

RESULTS: When compared with non-cancer patients while controlling for potential confounders, cancer patients of each malignancy type incurred statistically significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) medical expenditures. Bladder and breast cancer patients incurred excess annual direct costs of $7929 (P = 0.013) and $4808 (P = 0.005) respectively. Colorectal, kidney, and prostate cancer patients experienced an excess of $16,471 (P = 0.014), $19,784 (P = 0.025), and $12,329 (P < 0.001) respectively. Leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients incurred an annual excess of $31,058 (P = 0.001) and $16,447 (P = 0.01) respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Cancer patients across various malignancy types face considerably greater medical costs than the general population. Out of the 7 cancer types studied in this analysis, leukemia incurred the greatest excess annual costs, while breast cancer incurred the least. These estimates can be used in future cost-effectiveness analyses and have implications for policymakers regarding optimal resource allocation and efforts to reduce the economic burden of cancer.