Financial Toxicity in Cancer Care: The Next Metric of Cancer Disparity

Financial toxicity refers to the adverse effects of financial strain on the well-being of a patient faced with a cancer diagnosis and the subsequent cost of care. As cancer care cost escalates and the health-related out-of-pocket expenses grow, patients can incur considerable financial burden. In the current issue, Coroneos and colleagues1 examine the impact of financial toxicity on quality of life outcomes in women undergoing operations for breast cancer. Financial toxicity was measured using the validated Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity and was correlated with patient outcomes, including condition-specific quality of life (measured by the BREAST-Q) and global quality of life (measured by the SF-12).
Source: Journal of the American College of Surgeons - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: Invited Commentary Source Type: research