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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

High cost of cancer care in the U.S. doesn’t reduce mortality rates [yale.edu]:

While the U.S. spends twice as much on cancer care as the average high-income country, its cancer mortality rates are only slightly better than average, according to a new analysis by researchers at Yale University and Vassar College.

[...] The researchers found that national cancer care spending showed no relationship to population-level cancer mortality rates. “In other words, countries that spend more on cancer care do not necessarily have better cancer outcomes,” said Chow.

[...] Smoking is the strongest risk factor for cancer mortality, and smoking rates have historically been lower in the United States, compared to other countries. When the researchers controlled for international variations in smoking rates, U.S. cancer mortality rates became no different than the average high-income country, with nine countries — Australia, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland — having lower smoking-adjusted cancer mortality than the United States.

[...] “The pattern of spending more and getting less is well-documented in the U.S. healthcare system; now we see it in cancer care, too,” said co-author Elizabeth Bradley, president of Vassar College and professor of science, technology, and society. “Other countries and systems have much to teach the U.S. if we could be open to change.”

Journal Reference:
Ryan D. Chow, Elizabeth H. Bradley, and Cary P. Gross, Comparison of Cancer-Related Spending and Mortality Rates in the US vs 21 High-Income Countries, JAMA Health Forum. 2022;3(5):e221229. DOI:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.1229 [doi.org]

Original Submission