Estimating Costs Associated with Adverse Events in Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Economics
• Pharmacoeconomics

Background:

• Advanced lung cancer treatment involves significant healthcare expenditures.
• First-line therapies include targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy.
• Adverse events (AEs) can increase treatment costs and impact patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the economic burden of adverse events (AEs) in patients with advanced lung cancer receiving first-line therapies.
• To provide data for future cost-effectiveness analyses of novel lung cancer treatments.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of the Taiwan National Cancer Registry (2011-2019).
• Identification of patients receiving first-line targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or chemotherapy.
• Matched-pair analysis comparing costs of patients with and without newly-developed AEs.

Main Results:

• Sepsis/septicemia, neuropathy, and acute kidney injury were the costliest AEs, with incremental costs ranging from $7,839 to $10,101 USD.
• Severe AEs requiring hospitalization, such as sepsis/septicemia, interstitial lung disease/pneumonitis, and neuropathy, incurred higher costs.
• Mean incremental costs for severe AEs ranged from $10,120 to $22,483 USD.

Conclusions:

• Adverse events associated with first-line therapies for advanced lung cancer represent a substantial economic burden.
• Estimated AE costs can inform future economic evaluations of new lung cancer interventions.
• Understanding AE-related costs is crucial for optimizing lung cancer treatment strategies.