The U.S. only has slightly better-than-average cancer mortality rates than other high-income countries despite spending twice as much on associated care, a study published May 27 in JAMA Health Forum found.
Researchers analyzed the association between cancer care expenditures and age-standardized population-level cancer mortality rates in 22 high-income countries in 2020.
"The U.S. is spending over $200 billion per year on cancer care — roughly $600 per person, in comparison to the average of $300 per person across other high-income countries," said Cary Gross, MD, senior author and professor of medicine and director of the National Clinician Scholars Program at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University. "This raises the key question: Are we getting our money's worth?"
Researchers found that six countries — Australia, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Korea and Switzerland — had both lower cancer mortality and lower spending than the U.S. Nine countries — Australia, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain and Switzerland — had lower smoking-adjusted cancer mortality than the U.S., despite the U.S. having lower smoking rates than many other countries.