A recent study shows that five years of cancer care for the elderly costs Medicare approximately $21.2 billion.  This staggering figure is expected to swell as the baby boomers age.  The study, which was based on costs generated by cancer patients diagnosed in 2004, reveals that the highest costs are incurred during the first 12 months after diagnosis. Joseph Lipscomb, a health policy researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, said the study is the first to combine cost estimates and survival data to arrive at long-term national estimates for 18 of the most common types of cancers in the elderly. In men, brain and nervous system cancers were measured to be the costliest, whereas in women, ovarian and lung cancers are the most expensive.   For the full findings, click here.