This paper considers standard effective treatments for non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma and early breast cancer in premenopausal women. The literature
assesses the treatments' effectiveness, and expected charges for
different treatments in the context of the Belgian Health Insurance System are
compared. Ovariectomy in breast cancer (770 ECU) and conventional chemotherapy
in non-Hodgkin (2,745 lymphoma ECU) prove equally effective and are less
costly in comparison with chemotherapy (1,904 ECU) in breast cancer or
chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation (19,262 ECU) in
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Further unbiased insights in competitive
treatments' costs and outcome could save money and enhance developments
in cancer care.