Also a 1998 research report: Medical Advisory Panel, TEC Program, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

For this report, the Technology Evaluation Center, an AHCPR Evidence-based Practice Center of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, conducted a systematic review of the evidence from randomized controlled trials on the relative effectiveness of alternative strategies for androgen suppression as treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is a disease of older men, and is second only to lung cancer in cancer mortality for men. For 1998, it was estimated that 184,500 new cases of prostate cancer would be diagnosed, and 39,200 men would die of prostate cancer that year.

In 1994, the total Medicare expenditure for treatment of prostate cancer was $1,411,687,900. Of the total, $477,851,000 was for androgen suppression therapy using luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists. The prevalence of prostate cancer, and the expenditures for its treatment, are likely to increase with the aging of the population and the trend to earlier detection of the disease.

Three key issues are addressed in the report:

Two supplementary analyses were also conducted for each key question:

This timely volume provides a state-of-the-art review of all research to date on evaluating the cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention programs. Chapters feature comprehensive discussions on both scientific and practical uses - and limitations - of current studies. Addressing key questions about allocating scarce resources to HIV prevention, the Handbook is essential for those who require the most up-to-date research on the methods, findings, and practical uses of economic evaluations. A special feature is the inclusion of helpful tables summarizing the relevant literature.