A comparative costs analysis of brachytherapy and radical retropubic prostatectomy therapies for clinically localized prostate cancer

Objectives: The aim of this study is to perform a comparative costs analysis of brachytherapy (BT) and radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) for clinically localized prostate cancer and to shed light on the difficulties of comparing their relative economic effectiveness. Methods: A systematic literature review of costing studies available in the Medline, Embase, DARE, and INAHTA databases. Results: There is a lack of homogeneity among published studies in this field. Differences in the reported costs are related to different environments in which the two techniques (BT and RRP) are applied, and in particular due to the use of different methodology, cost items included, time frames, and different price levels in different settings. Conclusion: Published studies of costing data of BT and RRP do not provide clear-cut evidence for a conclusion about which treatment may be more effective from an economic point of view.