Health Economics in Oncology: Addressing Financial Toxicity, Value-Based Care, and Equity

A special issue of Current Oncology (ISSN 1718-7729). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Economics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 334

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Syreon Research Institute, 1142 Budapest, Hungary
Interests: health economics; cost-effectiveness analysis; economic evaluation; health care management; health outcomes; cost estimation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment have improved survival rates. However, these improvements have also led to rising costs that burden patients, families, and health systems. Financial toxicity is now recognized as a serious consequence of cancer care, affecting patients’ quality of life, treatment adherence, and long-term outcomes, even in countries with universal health coverage. This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews on the economic aspects of oncology, including cost-effectiveness, financial disparities, value-based care, and policy strategies that improve affordability and equity. We are especially interested in studies that explore ways to reduce financial hardship, increase efficiency, and support informed decision-making throughout the process of cancer care. We also welcome the submission of articles that focus on underserved populations and global trends such as digital health tools or workforce-related policies. We aim to generate actionable insights that support both economic sustainability and improved patient outcomes in oncology.

Dr. Marcell Csanádi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • financial toxicity
  • cost-effectiveness
  • value-based care
  • cancer care
  • economic sustainability
  • health policy
  • treatment affordability
  • underserved populations
  • digital health
  • oncology economics

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 1496 KB  
Article
Cost-Effectiveness of Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) in the Initial N-Staging of Head–Neck Cancer and Comparison with CT and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
by Nikolaos Papathanasiou, Maria Spiliotopoulou, Eleni Karagkouni, Dimitrios Apostolopoulos, Paraskevi Katsakiori, John Yfantopoulos and Nikolaos Kotsopoulos
Curr. Oncol. 2025, 32(12), 677; https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol32120677 - 1 Dec 2025
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Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of PET/CT in the initial N-staging of head–neck cancer (HNC) and to compare it with alternative strategies using CT or MRI within the Greek National Healthcare System. A cohort of 100 clinically N0 [...] Read more.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of PET/CT in the initial N-staging of head–neck cancer (HNC) and to compare it with alternative strategies using CT or MRI within the Greek National Healthcare System. A cohort of 100 clinically N0 (with no apparent metastatic cervical lymph nodes) HNC patients was simulated over a 10-year time horizon. Initially, a decision tree model was used to simulate the following three different imaging strategies for HNC staging: (a) whole-body FDG-PET/CT, (b) CT of the neck, chest, and abdomen (“CT”), and (c) MRI of the neck plus CT of the chest–abdomen (“MRI”). Subsequently, a Markov model was used to simulate transitions into the health states of recurrence and death. Epidemiological evidence, diagnostic accuracy rates, transition probabilities, and healthcare costs were obtained from the literature and official local tariffs. The estimated total costs per patient were EUR 128,729 for PET/CT, EUR 128,779 for MRI, and EUR 128,585 for CT. The corresponding life years (LYs) were 6.171 LYs for PET/CT, 6.170 LYs for MRI, and 6.170 LYs for CT, respectively. The analysis showed that PET/CT dominates MRI. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of PET/CT vs. CT was estimated at EUR 144,984 per LY gained. All three imaging strategies had comparable health outcomes and costs, with PET/CT being an appropriate and efficient imaging modality because of its high diagnostic accuracy in the N-staging of HNC. Full article
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