CANCER CARE: A new study suggests higher U.S. oncology spending is ‘worth it.’

Throughout the entire period, U.S. cancer survival gains were larger, reaching 11.1 years over 1995 to 1999 against 9.3 years in the EU. The researchers then compared the U.S. and EU gains using conservative, commonly accepted measures for the value of a statistical life, less the cost of the care. The U.S. comes out ahead by $598 billion. In other words, though the U.S. spends more, patients and society benefit far more.

Over 1995-1999, each $100 increase in per capita cancer spending—approximately $20,000 per cancer patient—was associated with another 2.3 years of life for the average patient. The authors are also careful to show that these results reflect real patient outcomes. Another myth is that U.S. survival rates are an artifact of the time of diagnosis, a “lead-time bias” that comes from more screening and earlier cancer detection, but without any improvement in life expectancy. Mr. Philipson’s method controls for such bias.

That’s good. Have you noticed, though, that the offical message has shifted over the last year or so from “Early detection is crucial” to “Don’t look, you might find something?”