People affected by cancer lose an average of €16,200 in annual income as a result of their diagnosis, the Irish Cancer Society has said.
It said that people affected by cancer face additional costs and financial burdens, as well as a significant loss of income.
The Real Cost of Cancer data was collected from surveys and interviews of people affected by cancer, conducted by Ireland Thinks, funded by the ICS.
If found that cancer patients face costs of up to €400 a month on medical expenses, including GP visits and prescription costs.
They also face monthly travel associated costs of up to €300 a month, which include car parking fees, fuel costs and toll charges.
The ICS said cancer patients reported struggling to heat their homes, fell behind on their mortgage or rent, or needed to borrow to cope with the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis.
Many patients said they had to spend their savings to make ends meet.
Irish Cancer Society CEO Nikki Gallagher said that every year, thousands of families across the country hear the word cancer for the first time, in their own home.
She said in that moment, everything changes, not just physically and emotionally, but financially too.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Gallagher said some patients have said the financial impact is almost as stressful as the cancer diagnosis.
She said: "People are telling us that they are sometimes borrowing, they're running down their savings, and they're borrowing from family or friends and sometimes actually having to go to the banks or the credit unions.
"Sometimes they're missing bills. And then in a small number of cases, people have actually told us that they're in mortgage and rent arrears."
Ms Gallagher said the ICS is asking for three "very practical" measures ahead of the Budget.
"Firstly, we're asking for automatic entitlement to medical cards. We know not everybody will need it, but an automatic entitlement means that anybody who does need it can avail of this.
"We're also asking for the threshold for the drug payment scheme to be dropped from €80 to €40. And then we're asking for people who have advanced or end of life cancer to be given automatic access to the fuel allowance or the household benefits package.
"And that'll mean that it'll just alleviate some of the stress that cancer patients are currently going through."
