Long-term Toxicity and Associated Cost of Initial Treatment and Subsequent Toxicity-Related Intervention for Patients Treated with Prostatectomy, External Beam Radiotherapy, or Brachytherapy: A SEER-Medicare Database Study

Abstract

4 Background: Treatment-related toxicity for prostate cancer (CaP) is rarely reported more than 5 years after therapy. We examined the SEER-Medicare linked database with the potential of having 16 years of follow-up data on toxicity requiring procedural intervention. Methods: The SEER-Medicare database was queried for CaP patients treated with prostatectomy (RP), external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), or brachytherapy (PI) between 1991-2007. We identified procedural billing codes associated with toxicity-related treatments. We obtained information on the Medicare reimbursement rates for the initial treatment and any toxicity-related interventions. We then computed the cost per patient-year within each treatment modality over time. Results: A total of 137,427 patients who were 65 years or older at the time of CaP diagnosis and who had CaP as their only cancer diagnosis were retrieved from the SEER/Medicare database: 59,559 (43.3%) treated with RP, 60,806 (44.2%) treated with EBRT, and 17,062 (12.4%) treated wi...