[Radical prostatectomy for men aged <56 years with prostate cancer. Cost of illness analysis].

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is the most frequent malignant tumor in men; 10% of the patients are younger than 56 years at the time of diagnosis and are usually still working. The aim of this study was to evaluate the costs of the disease within the first 3 years from diagnosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 200 patients (aged by the patient, 6569.76 by the employer, 16,356.96 by the health insurance, 13,304.88 by the pension scheme, and 3912.57 by the employment office. CONCLUSION: The main costs in patients with prostate cancer and radical prostatectomy have to been paid by the health insurance scheme and the pension scheme; 74.3% of the patients regained full fitness for work. The time until reintegration into work was correlated to the extent of physical labor.