Budget Impact Model: Epigenetic Assay Can Help Avoid Unnecessary Repeated Prostate Biopsies and Reduce Healthcare Spending

摘要

BackgroundThe diagnosis of prostate cancer involves invasive, sometimes harmful, procedures that can entail negative quality-of-life implications to individuals and high additional costs to the US healthcare system when these procedures result in retesting and iatrogenic harms. It is estimated that $1.86 billion is spent annually on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing alone. An advanced epigenetic molecular diagnostic test that uses methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction to assess the DNA methylation status of GSTP1, APC, and RASSF1 genes associated with oncogenesis enables a higher degree of accuracy (previously unattainable through prostate biopsy procedures alone) and produces clinical, financial, and health benefits by reducing the number of medically unnecessary and costly repeated biopsies that are part of today's standard of care.