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Journal of Leukemia

Journal of Leukemia
Open Access

ISSN: 2329-6917

+44 1300 500008

Abstract

Economic Evaluations of Hematological Malignancies Compared with Solid Tumors

Nicolas Batty, Joseph Shatzel, Samuel Wiles, Mathew Kabalan, Rohit Sharma, Jonathan Pang, David Yi, Iris Alatovic, Sana Saif, Deepika Narasimha, Joseph LaPenna, Anthony Troitino, Kristopher Attwood, Michael Weinstein, Eric Murawski, Mathew Valerio, Yong Yin and Meir Wetzler

Introduction: Cancer care costs escalated with the introduction of novel therapies. Therefore, cancer?related Cost Utility Analyses (CUAs) are used to guide policy makers. Since numerous methods (criteria) exist to evaluate CUAs, we compared these criteria between CUAs of solid tumors and those of hematological malignancies. Methods: A systemic MEDLINE search of English-language publications between 2001 and 2012 was performed. Strict inclusion criteria were limited to CUAs examining one single intervention and one single study comparator. Standard data of 66 variables, based on the Drummond criteria, were collected to review each CUA for clarity, completeness, and health economic methodological quality. Results: Among 8,515 screened papers on Pubmed, 177 cancer-related CUAs (2%) were eligible. Solid tumors and hematological malignancies CUAs constituted 161(91%) and 16(9%). Among the standardized methods for evaluating CUAs, those of solid tumors reported more frequently the presentation of cost-effectiveness acceptability curve (p=0.02) and the use of threshold value to interpret study results (p=0.024) than those of hematological malignancies. Further, CUAs of solid tumors were more frequently multicenter-based (p=0.014); however, CUAs of hematological malignancies listed differential quality adjusted life year separately more frequently (p=0.02). Outcomes of CUAs of solid tumors were more frequently reported as significant (p=0.014). Conclusions: CUAs of solid tumors abided more frequently with the standardized methods (criteria) than those of hematological malignancies, which may be due in part to their multiple study sites. CUAs of hematological malignancies may warrant more methodological standardization and incorporate more study sites.

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