• Reynaldo José Sant Anna Pereira de Souza, Adriana Prest Mattedi, Marcelo Lacerda Rezende, Marcelo de Paula Corrêa, and Etiene Marques Duarte.
• Fundação SobecCan, Hospital do Câncer de Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. reynaldojsantanna@gmail.com
• An Bras Dermatol. 2009 Jul 1;84(3):237-43.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to estimate the direct cost of diagnosing and treating melanoma disease in Sao Paulo (Brazil) between the years 2000 and 2007.MethodsThe project Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology was used, adapted to the proceedings of SOBECCan Foundation. The estimated costs were based on the values of the medical treatment paid by the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) and private healthcare insurance companies (PHIC) in 2007.ResultsThe total cost was estimated in R$33,012,725.1 (SUS) and R$76,133,662.8 (PHIC). Stages 0, I and II comprised about 4.2% (SUS) and 1.3% (PHIC) of the total cost; stages III and IV amounted to 95.8% and 98.7% of the total cost, respectively.ConclusionThe diagnosis of malignant melanoma in its initial stages reduces treatment costs generating considerable savings of resources for both National Health System and private healthcare insurance companies.

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