Adding to the stress of a cancer diagnosis, many patients must also deal with the financial strain of the disease, including large expenses which are often compounded by a decreased opportunity to work. A new tool constructed by a team from the University of Chicago can help predict financial impact due to cancer.

The team of cancer specialists describe the tool in the July issue of Cancer. The tool consists of 11 questions that have been compiled and refined from conversations with over 150 patients suffering from advanced cancer. The tool is the first of its kind and is used to measure a patient’s risk for financial stress and their ability to tolerate it. The researchers titled the patient-reported outcome measure COST, or COmprehensive Score for financial Toxicity.

Jonas de Souza, MD, study author and a head-and-neck cancer specialist at the University of Chicago Medicine, said in a statement, “Few physicians discuss this increasingly significant side effect with their patients.” He continued, “Physicians aren’t trained to do this. It makes them, as well as patients, feel uncomfortable.” Souza noted, “We aren’t good at it. We believe that a thoughtful, concise tool that could help predict a patient’s risk for financial toxicity might open the lines of communication. This gives us a way to launch that discussion.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, medical expenses related to cancer are expected to reach at least $158 billion in the U.S. alone by 2020.