Cost-effective priorities for cancer prevention.
Faced with limited resources, the United States must set priorities for research to identify preventable causes of cancer. A quantitative approach to priority setting, based on principles of decision analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis, can offer guidance in this process. An illustrative application of such a model suggests that the National Institutes of Health-supported clinical trial of dietary beta-carotene offers a greater expected reduction in cancer mortality per research dollar than carcinogen bioassays of high-volume industrial chemicals such as p-dichlorobenzene. National research priorities should reflect the relative cost-effectiveness of such investments.
D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D002273:Carcinogens; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000009:adverse effects; D002722:Chlorobenzenes / Q000009:adverse effects; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011050:Policy Making; D014481:United States; D019207:beta Carotene
D002273:Carcinogens; D002722:Chlorobenzenes; D019207:beta Carotene; D002338:Carotenoids; C018511:4-dichlorobenzene