Hospital and Ambulatory Surgery Care for Women’s Cancers

The average hospital bill for gynecologic cancers overall was almost $24,700—25 percent higher than the average U.S. hospital bill of $19,700. For ovarian cancer, the average bill was $35,200—nearly 80 percent higher than the average U.S. hospital bill (Figure 2). More than 1 in 3 American women develop cancer at some point in their lives. Over 40 percent1 of their diagnoses are associated with women-specific cancers—that is, cancers typically unique to females, such as breast cancer and gynecologic cancers of the uterus, cervix, ovaries, and other genital organs. Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women,2 and more women are diagnosed with breast cancer than any other type of cancer. Although gynecologic cancers are less prevalent than breast cancers, they are generally more expensive to treat.