Article Text
Abstract
Background The economic impact of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is increasing. Clinical trials (CT) are essential for evaluating the efficacy and safety of new treatments, but they can also have an economic benefit by avoiding drug costs.
Purpose Our aim was to determine the avoided cost attributable to drugs assigned to patients with NSCLC enrolled in CT during the 2016.
Material and methods A descriptive, retrospective, observational study of CT done on patients with NSCLC during 2016. Data were collected from CT records and the computer program Farmatools: CT identification, promoter, phase, design and number of patients. The avoided cost analysis was taken into account: number of dispensations, number of cycles, medication as well as the amount dispensed, chemotherapy regimen, treatment duration and average drug prices for economic evaluation of avoided cost. Inclusion criteria: CT with at least one patient included, and those to whom the antineoplastic treatment was provided by the promoter. The chemotherapy regimen comparison was chosen according to standard clinical practice. Limitation: We did not take the cost of working in aseptic conditions or the cost of administering the drugs into account. Statistical analysis was performed using the program SPSS Statistics24.
Results 14 CT were performed for NSCLC; 12 reached the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Of the total, 11 were CT in phase III, and 1 in phase II. The total number of patients included was 69, and the total number of cycles administered was 369, with an average of 5. 35±5. 7 cycles administered/patient. The promoter in most CT was the pharmaceutical industry and the rest were promoted by cooperative groups (11 and 1 respectively). The overall avoided cost was €4 74 428. 65. The average cost per clinical trial was €39 535. 72 and per patient was €6875. 77.
Conclusion The avoided cost in research drugs has a great impact on pharmaceutical expenses. CT provide an exceptional context for advancing clinical research, as well as considerable savings for hospitals and healthcare system.
Reference and/or Acknowledgements 1. Luengo-Fernandez R. Economic burden of cancer across the European Union: A population-based cost analysis. Lancet Oncol2013;14:1165.
No conflict of interest