Background Lenalidomide is one of the main drugs for the treatment of multiple myeloma, which has a high cost per patient.

Purpose To describe and analyse the use of lenalidomide in multiple myeloma.

Material and methods This retrospective study covered the period from January 2013 to December 2015. All patients with a diagnosis of multiple myeloma who started treatment with lenalidomide from January 2013 to June 2015 were included. The collected parameters were: number of patients, age, sex, progression free survival (PFS), economic spending (€) and dose used. Data were obtained through the prescription and validation programme SAVAC, its complementary exploitation of data programme Discoverer and collected in an Excel base designed for that purpose.

Results A total of 44 patients (54% women) were identified, with a median age of 75 years (mean 72±11; range 37–97). Median PFS to the cut-off date was 12 months. 34% of patients exceeded 18 months of PFS and 23% achieved a PFS higher than 24 months. In contrast, 9% of patients had less than 3 months of PFS. The annual cost was €1 046 963, with an average cost per patient/year of €32 718, representing 3% of the total budget of the pharmacy service. Regarding safety, 42% received at least one dose reduction, and 17% more than one dose reduction. These data are consistent with consumption of the various presentations, where more than 50% of consumption corresponds to the dose of lenalidomide 25 mg, the 10 and 5 mg doses being consumed less (<10% and 5%, respectively).

Conclusion The results of effectiveness of PFS matched the effectiveness of the pivotal studies MM-009 and MM-010 that showed a median PFS of 48.1 weeks (12 months). Almost half of patients with more than 12 months of PFS had reached 24 months of PFS. This represents a cost per patient of approximately €30 000/year, and an incremental cost per life year gained of €56 410 compared with placebo.

No conflict of interest