Economic impact of antiemesis

Control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is a major concern for patients receiving cancer therapy and a major quality of life issue. However, the fact that antiemetic control improves quality (but not duration) of survival and the significant cost of newer antiemetic agents have led to discussions about the relative priority of supportive care interventions and the appropriate use of newer and more expensive medications. Various decision trees can be constructed to estimate appropriate use and pricing of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists. Additional costs of ineffective antiemetic therapy can be taken into account when calculating the advantages of effective antiemesis. Use of appropriate doses for appropriate indications will also have an impact. Since supportive care leads to qualitative rather than quantitative improvement in survival, the appropriate form of analysis is not cost-effectiveness (which considers only increase in years of survival) but rather cost-utility (which considers quality-adjusted life years).