The high cost of finding breast cancer too late

Finding cancer late carries a terrible price, in both lives and dollars. A new study led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society puts some startling numbers behind that familiar truth.

Using Medicare data on cancer patients aged 66 and older, researchers calculated that cancer-attributable medical costs averaged nearly $122,000 during the final year before a cancer death. Patients diagnosed after their cancers had already spread generally incurred the highest costs, while costs tended to be lower for earlier-stage disease.