SynthesisPloS one2018
Global treatment costs of breast cancer by stage: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The association between neighborhood socioeconomic status and breast cancer incidence and mortality risk: a large-scale cohort studies systematic review and meta-analysis.Breast cancer (Tokyo, Japan) · 2025Pooled it
- Direct and Indirect Costs of Breast Cancer and Associated Implications: A Systematic Review.Advances in therapy · 2024Pooled it
- Health system barriers influencing timely breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among women in low and middle-income Asian countries: evidence from a mixed-methods systematic review.BMC health services research · 2022Pooled it
- Electronic Health Interventions for Patients With Breast Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Dietary Vitamin A Intake and Circulating Vitamin A Concentrations and the Risk of Three Common Cancers in Women: A Meta-Analysis.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2022Pooled it
- Oncoplastic breast-conserving surgery for women with primary breast cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Direct Medical Costs, Productivity Loss Costs and Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures in Women with Breast Cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Systematic Review.PharmacoEconomics · 2021Pooled it
- Comprehensive Review of Breast Cancer Consequences for the Patients and Their Coping Strategies: A Systematic Review.Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer CenterPooled it
- Supporting breast cancer survivors via text messages: reach, acceptability, and utility of EMPOWER-SMS.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2022Trial
- Healthcare cost for non-hospital services and pharmaceuticals among breast cancer survivors: an event study.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Article
- A cost-effectiveness analysis of breast cancer treatment in certified versus non-certified hospitals in Germany.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Economic benefit of expanding mammography screening for breast cancer in Colombia: A cost modelling analysis.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Temporal Patterns of Breast Cancer-Related Sickness Absence and Social Insurance Expenditures Among Women in Poland, 2020-2024: A Nationwide Registry-Based Study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Association between time to treatment and financial toxicity among women with breast cancer in Ethiopia: a multicentre study in a low-resource setting.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Healthcare costs and resource use in advanced breast cancer at the end of life: a register study.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2026Article
- Assessment of Out-of-Pocket Expenditure of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patients in a Tertiary Cancer Center and Private Clinics in the Philippines.Acta medica Philippina · 2026Article
- Fuzuloparib with or without apatinib in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer with germline BRCA1/2 mutations: a cost-utility analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Costs of breast cancer care by stage and HER-2 Status: a population-based study.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Cost analysis of female breast cancer in Antigua and Barbuda: a prevalence based study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Impact of outpatient palliative care on healthcare costs in Germany - an analysis of cancer and non-cancer patients based on health insurance data.Health economics review · 2025Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPublished evidence on treatment costs of breast cancer varies widely in methodology and a global systematic review is lacking.
objectivesThis study aimed to conduct a systematic review to compare treatment costs of breast cancer by stage at diagnosis across countries at different levels of socio-economic development, and to identify key methodological differences in costing approaches. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED) before April 2018. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies were eligible if they reported treatment costs of breast cancer by stage at diagnosis using patient level data, in any language. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS
methodsStudy characteristics and treatment costs by stage were summarised. Study quality was assessed using the Drummond Checklist, and detailed methodological differences were further compared.
resultsTwenty studies were included, 15 from high-income countries and five from low- and middle-income countries. Eleven studies used the FIGO staging system, and the mean treatment costs of breast cancer at Stage II, III and IV were 32%, 95%, and 109% higher than Stage I. Five studies categorised stage as in situ, local, regional and distant. The mean treatment costs of regional and distant breast cancer were 41% and 165% higher than local breast cancer. Overall, the quality of studies ranged from 50% (lowest quality) to 84% (highest). Most studies used regression frameworks but the choice of regression model was rarely justified. Few studies described key methodological issues including skewness, zero values, censored data, missing data, and the inclusion of control groups to estimate disease-attributable costs.
conclusionsTreatment costs of breast cancer generally increased with the advancement of the disease stage at diagnosis. Methodological issues should be better handled and properly described in future costing studies.
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