ArticleCancer2025
The hidden economic burden of cancer caring.
Article in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Needs of Rural Caregivers of Patients With Cancer: A Scoping Review of Evidence From North America, Europe, and Australia.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- The hidden economic burden of cancer caring.Cancer · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAdvances in clinical cancer care have increased the number of survivors, which has impacted informal caregiving. This study estimates the annual opportunity cost of informal cancer care and quantifies the gap in the quality adjusted life expectancy (QALE).
methodInformal cancer carers by sex and two age groups (15-64 years old and 65 years old and over) from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) from 2003 to 2022 were used to estimate the annual opportunity costs of informal cancer care in 2022 and predict future costs. Costs were based on an hourly wage rate, and the QALE were calculated by combining health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with life expectancy.
resultsIn 2022, there were 59,100 informal cancer carers (61% female, 61% were above 65 years). The average time for informal cancer care was 28.6 hours per week. The average informal care cost was $60,853 per carer, and the cost is estimated to rise by 11% in 2025 and 30% in 2028. The QALE loss ranges from 1.8 to 5.4 months per year of caring, depending on age group and sex.
conclusionThe time spent caring for people living with cancer by informal carers is significant. Recognizing and rigorously investigating the role of informal cancer carers in reducing the burden on the formal care sector and improving the quality of life of people living with cancer is essential to understanding the impact and significance of caring, which will facilitate impactful policy changes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.