The hospital costs of treating lung cancer in the United Kingdom.

A detailed patient-by-patient costing analysis, based on case records for 253 patients diagnosed in 1993, reveals that the mean 4-year diagnosis and management costs amounted to Pound Sterling 6150 and Pound Sterling 5668 for non-small cell and small cell lung cancer respectively. These costs are lower than those identified in Canadian studies, the difference being explained by the use of a simulated costing methodology in these studies, lower unit costs and less aggressive interventions.