The burden of renal cell cancer : A retrospective longitudinal study on occurrence, outcomes and cost using an administrative claims database

Abstract Objective To assess the burden of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in epidemiologic and economic terms. Methods Retrospective, naturalistic longitudinal study on the occurrence, outcomes and cost of RCC using an administrative database. We selected residents of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (FVG), a North-eastern Region of Italy, who had a RCC first hospital admission during the period 2000–2004, and we followed them up until: 30th June 2005, death or transfers. Direct medical costs were quantified in the perspective of FVG Regional Health Service. Results We enrolled 1358 patients (63% male), the 18.8% presenting a metastatic-stage, leading to a crude incidence of 23/100.000 person-years. During the follow-up, 76% of the metastatic patients and 21% of the non-metastatic patients died. Total health care costs per-patient over the maximum of follow-up were 16,090€ for the localised stage group and 17,656€ in the metastatic-stage group. Discussion RCC imposes a significant epidemiologic and economic burden to the healthcare-system and the society