The researchers calculated that the total cost of treating cancer in the public health system per year was 26 per cent greater than the Ministry of Health estimate of $526 million.
While the amount of money spent per cancer case was about the same for women and men, there was a noticeable difference in terms of how much was spent based on patient age, Prof Blakely said.
"For example we spend more on 45-year-olds than we do on 85-year-olds. This suggests that the health system is working even harder to save younger lives through more actively pursuing such treatment options as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy."
Prof Blakely said he supported the introduction of more preventative measures that targeted known cancer causes, such as a national bowel cancer screening programme, especially since such programmes had proved to be cost-effective internationally and because colon cancer was the most costly cancer type overall.
Study co-author Associate Professor Nick Wilson, from the University of Otago, Wellington, said it made sense to introduce preventive measures that targeted New Zealand's obesity epidemic because it would lower the cancer burden and help curb the country's burgeoning healthcare bill.
"There are things that can be easily done by taking the food industry to task on food labelling, portion size and advertising junk food to kids.
"Then there is the issue of taxing unhealthy food. Without a doubt the Government should be following other countries and looking at a tax on sugary drinks as a start," he said.
"It would not only save in terms of obesity and cancer costs but help in the fight against diabetes - a particularly expensive disease."
By the numbers:
* Cancers that most public health dollars were being spent on annually:
- Colon, 15 per cent
- Breast, 14 per cent
- Prostate, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukaemia, each at 6 per cent.
* Cost of cancer:
- Cheapest: melanoma at $8000 per diagnosed and treated case
- Most expensive: leukaemia on average $95,000 a case.
