Therapeutic options in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC): A cost-effectiveness analysis. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • e15154 Background: Initial therapy for metastatic prostate cancer is androgen deprivation therapy. Uniformly progression of disease occurs despite castration. Docetaxel is then the standard of care. Abiraterone (Abi) and cabazitaxel (Cab) are approved for mCRPC post docetaxel with improvements in survival We seek to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Abi and Cab compared to mitoxantrone (Mit) and prednisone for mCRPC. Methods: A decision tree model was constructed comparing four treatments for mCRPC patients over an 18 month period: 1) Abi, 2) Cab, 3) Mit, and 4) prednisone only. Chance nodes included baseline pain as a severity indicator, grade III & IV adverse events (AE) (neutropenia and cardiac ) and survival at 18mos. Survival rates and probabilities were from published data. Cost of drug regimens were based on 2010 US dollars and average wholesale price (AWP). Model cost inputs included drug-costs, administration costs, management of AEs, radiation for pain, and costs associated with death. Health utilities for baseline pain, bone pain, neutropenia, cardiac events, and radiation were obtained from published data. Sensitivity analyses were conducted focused on baseline severity and costs of drug. Results: Base case estimates suggest that Cab and Abi are most effective. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) for Mit vs. placebo is $110K/QALY, Abi vs. Mit is $76K/QALY and for Cab vs. Abi, the ICER is $925K/QALY. Model-sensitive parameters include Abi AWP and cost of Mit side effect management; Abi becomes less cost-effective as its AWP increases, or if the cost of Mit side effect management decreases. When baseline severity increases, Mit becomes cost-effective over placebo and Abi remains cost-effective over Mit. Cab remains not cost-effective at tolerable thresholds. Conclusions: Compared to Cab, Mit, and placebo, Abi is the most cost-effective option in docetaxel-refractory mCRPC patients due to its ability to prolong survival and maintain a willingness-to-pay threshold (WTP) of $100K. Despite higher survival with Cab, it is not cost-effective because of costs associated with treatment of neutropenia. In situations where illness is more severe, Abi remains the cost-effective choice.

published proceedings

  • Journal of Clinical Oncology

author list (cited authors)

  • Zhong, L., Srinivas, S., Pon, V., Nguyen, N., Frear, M., Kwan, S., ... Wilson, L.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Zhong, Lixian||Srinivas, Sandy||Pon, Vickie||Nguyen, Nicole||Frear, Meghan||Kwan, Sherry||Gong, Cynthia||Malmstrom, Robert||Loucks, Aimee||Wilson, Leslie

publication date

  • January 2012