Attendees at the recent RSNA annual meeting in Chicago learned that the cost of radiation therapy for Medicare patients had soared over a 10-year span, according to an analysis of radiation therapy utilization and associated costs conducted at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) in Philadelphia.

Researchers from the Center for Research on Utilization of Imaging Services reported that between 1998 and 2008, the cost of radiation therapy increased by 156%, while the number of patients receiving the treatments increased only by 33%.

Medicare-allowed charges for radiation therapy increased from $759 million in 1998 to $1.94 billion in 2008. By comparison, the number of treatments per year rose at a modest rate, from 2,690,233 procedures in 1998 to 3,573,902 procedures in 2008.