Burden of illness of chemotherapy in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients in Japan: a retrospective database analysis.

Objective: The objective was to assess the burden of chemotherapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in Japan.

Methods: Utilizing a large administrative hospital database we compared a set of outcome measures 12 months before and after initiation of chemotherapy, namely total medical costs, number of outpatient visits, number of hospital admissions and number of days spent in hospital.

Results: A total of 598 CRPC patients were identified in the database. Total healthcare costs increased from 143,578 Japanese Yen (JPY) per patient per month (PPPM), before chemotherapy, to 333,628 JPY after start of chemotherapy. The number of hospital admissions increased by 280%, and the number of days spent in hospital by 380%.

Conclusions: The overall costs of chemotherapy for patients diagnosed with castration-resistant prostate cancer in Japan are high. Our findings can serve as a basis for health economic evaluations.