Background: There is an emphasis on maximizing effectiveness and safety of cancer treatment in high income countries. In resource-limited countries, medical oncologists may have fewer options, depending of available funds, despite knowing highly effective treatments. In Brazil, public health care is responsible for 80% of cancer treatments, and costs of chemotherapy are limited by official protocols. These protocols were developed by the Ministry of Health and, depending of the site and stage of disease, a cost per patient is fixed in tables, accordingly. These tables exclude new drugs. The Cost of Preventing an Event (COPE) statistic can be calculated using data from randomized controlled trial (RCT). It is an incomplete form of economic appraisal, but can provide rapid insight regarding drug cost at a population level for the given effectiveness as determined by the RCT(1). Objectives: To compare, through the COPE statistic, the treatments covered and not covered by the public health system in Brazil. Methods: We performed a search for RCTs evaluating standard regimens for treatment of breast cancer. The standard regimens were defined by evaluation of available practice guidelines. The NNT for survival at 1, 2 or 5 years of each treatment was calculated. COPE was calculated from the product of NNT, number of months needed to treat, 30 days, and daily cost of therapy. Results: The COPE values for breast cancer treatments with chemotherapy covered by the public health system in Brazil ranged from EUR 18,347 to EUR 68,566 per event saved. Some values were not possible to calculate because the absence of placebocontrolled RCTs. The COPE values for breast cancer treatments not covered ranged from EUR 179,541 to EUR 1,037,004 per event saved. Conclusions: Breast cancer treatments not covered by public health system in Brazil have much higher costs per event saved than actual coverage. Formal economic analyses, such as cost-effectiveness studies, are necessary to guide the incorporation of new drugs in the treatment of breast cancer, mainly in developing countries. Reference: [1] Maharaj R. Evid Based Med. 2007 Aug;12(4):101–2.