Cancer patients' willingness to pay for blood transfusions at home: results from a contingent valuation study in a French cancer network.

Home blood transfusion may be an interesting alternative to hospital transfusion, especially when given with curative or palliative intent or for terminal care in advanced-stage cancer patients. However, there is limited information about patients' attitude toward this type of care. The purpose of this study was to measure French cancer patients' willingness to pay (WTP) for home blood transfusion and to analyze determinants of their choice.

[Economic assessment of pulsed dose-rate (PDR) brachytherapy with optimized dose distribution for cervix carcinoma].

Purpose: Our study aims at evaluating the cost of pulsed dose-rate (PDR) brachytherapy with optimized dose distribution versus traditional treatments (iridium wires, cesium, non-optimized PDR). Issues surrounding reimbursement were also explored.

Materials And Methods: This prospective, multicentre, non-randomised study conducted in the framework of a project entitled "Support Program for Costly Diagnostic and Therapeutic Innovations" involved 21 hospitals.

[Impact of FDG-PET on radiation therapy: economic results of a STIC study].

The aim of this study is to assess the effects of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) associated with computed tomography (CT) on resource allocation (costs and savings) of the following treatment in radiotherapy for non small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) and Hodgkin's diseases. A national prospective study was conducted in nine hospitals. Two treatment decisions made on the basis of CT only or on PET associated with, were compared in a before-after design.

[The cost of respiration-gated radiotherapy in the framework of a clinical research programme "STIC"].

Purpose: Our study aims to evaluate the impact of the implementation of respiratory gating (RG) on the production cost of radiotherapy, as compared to conformational radiotherapy without RG (comparator) in patients with lung or breast cancers. Issues surrounding reimbursement were also explored.

Materials And Methods: A prospective, multicenter, non-randomised study was conducted in the framework of a project entitled "Support Program for Costly Diagnostic and Therapeutic Innovations".

Analyzing multiple learning effects in health care using multilevel modeling: application to radiotherapy at an early stage of innovation.

Objectives: Learning effects may have considerable influence on the performance of new health technologies, thereby on cost-effectiveness and ultimately on resource allocation. In the area of radiotherapy, equipment is becoming increasingly costly and the analysis of learning effects is complex given that sequential treatments are necessary, with multiple sessions for each patient. Our study aimed at analyzing learning effects in radiotherapy at an early stage of innovation.