Health care costs for patients with cancer at the end of life.

Purpose: With rising health care costs in the United States, clearly defined end-of-life (EOL) cancer costs are needed to help health administrators proactively manage this important care. Our objective was to examine EOL health care resource costs among oncology patients in a US commercial insurance population.

Methods: A retrospective claims database affiliated with OptumInsight was analyzed.

The burden of metastatic melanoma: treatment patterns, healthcare use (utilization), and costs.

Using a large national claims database, this study investigates the differences in survival and healthcare costs of metastatic melanoma patients by the number of metastatic sites. An analysis was carried out using data obtained from January 2007 to March 2010. Patients included had at least two claims for metastatic disease at least 30 days apart, at least two claims for melanoma at least 30 days apart, or at least one claim for cancer-related treatment with a diagnosis of melanoma and evidence of anticancer systemic therapy.