Health care resource utilization and costs associated with advanced or metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer in the United States

Biomarker-Specific Survival and Medication Cost for Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Importance

Targeted therapies and immunotherapies prolong survival but are associated with high costs for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC). To date, little is known about survival and medication cost by biomarker status in the US.

Objective

To estimate survival and medication cost by aNSCLC biomarker status.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This retrospective cohort study using Flatiron Health data identified patients diagnosed with aNSCLC from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2022. Each patient had received at least 1 biomarker test and 1 documented line of therapy; follow-up was through September 31, 2023. Patients were categorized based on the presence of driver alterations, including ALK rearrangement, BRAF variation, or EGFR variation. Patients without driver alterations were divided into 3 groups based on their programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression (<1%, 1%-49%, or ≥50%).

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was medication costs, which were a function of survival probability and monthly medication costs. The secondary outcome was medication costs per survivor, defined as the mean aggregate medication costs within each patient cohort for each 1- or 2-year survivor.

Results

The study cohort consisted of 26 635 patients with aNSCLC (mean [SD] age at diagnosis, 68.9 [10.0] years; 13 750 [52%] male; 2610 [10%] African American, 687 [3%] Asian, 18 352 [69%] White, and 4986 [19%] other race, including any race other than African American, Asian, or White). The median overall survival was 39.9 (95% CI, 33.9-48.5) months for patients with ALK rearrangement, 27.0 (95% CI, 24.8-28.8) months for EGFR variation, 18.7 (95% CI, 16.0-20.6) months for BRAF variation, 12.3 (95% CI, 12.0-12.7) months for PD-L1 less than 1%, 13.7 (95% CI, 13.1-14.3) months for PD-L1 of 1% to 49%, and 16.2 (95% CI, 15.3-17.0) months for PD-L1 of 50% or greater. The 1- and 2-year medication costs per patient for the overall cohort were $120 420 (95% CI, $115 540-$126 470) and $182 560 (95% CI, $172 900-$196 040), respectively. Patients with EGFR variation or PD-L1 of 50% or greater incurred relatively higher 1-year medication cost ($131 700 [95% CI, $125 340-$138 280] and $123 590 [95% CI, $115 970-$130 840], respectively) compared with patients with PD-L1 less than 1% ($110 350 [95% CI, $101 680-$120 040]). Patients with ALK rearrangement or EGFR variation incurred the highest 2-year medication cost ($242 130 [95% CI, $206 220-$267 330] and $241 940 [95% CI, $230 840-$254 730], respectively), whereas patients with PD-L1 less than 1% and PD-L1 of 1% to 49% had the lowest 2-year medication cost ($156 340 [95% CI, $142 450-$172 800] and $163 410 [95% CI, $152 410-$174 180], respectively). The medication costs per 1-year survivor were $152 370 (95% CI, $133 550-$178 080) for patients with ALK rearrangement, $175 720 (95% CI, $167 330-$185 390) for EGFR variation, $211 100 (95% CI, $195 030-$229 400) for PD-L1 less than 1%, $210 260 (95% CI, $193 190-$226 580) for PD-L1 of 1% to 49%, and $211 630 (95% CI, $198 670-$224 210) for PD-L1 of 50% or greater, whereas the costs per 2-year survivor were $363 480 (95% CI, $314 710-$401 320) for patients with ALK rearrangement, $468 400 (95% CI, $441 340-$497 860) for patients with PD-L1 of 50% or greater, $460 790 (95% CI, $427 340-$494 080) for patients with PD-L1 of 1% to 49%, and $500 220 (95% CI, $456 900-$556 730) for patients with PD-L1 less than 1%.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study, patients with aNSCLC with driver alterations experienced better survival and incurred lower medication costs per survivor than those without driver variation, indicating the need to develop more affordable and effective medications for patients without driver alterations.

Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) Therapy with an Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor or Docetaxel in Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose

Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) therapy extended survival in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) on or after platinum-based therapy. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of TTFields therapy concomitant with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) or docetaxel.

Methods

A model-based health economic evaluation estimated lifetime costs, clinical benefits, and humanistic outcomes of TTFields therapy plus ICI or docetaxel versus ICI or docetaxel alone in metastatic NSCLC. The model used clinical data from the LUNAR study, US healthcare cost data, and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) measures.

Results

The addition of TTFields therapy to an ICI or docetaxel resulted in a mean life-year gain of 0.92 and a QALY gain of 0.66, with an incremental cost-effective ratio (ICER) of $89,808 per QALY gained. TTFields therapy plus an ICI had 1.67 additional life years and 1.21 additional QALYs compared to an ICI alone, with an ICER of $58,764 per QALY gained. For TTFields therapy plus docetaxel, the life-year gain was 0.23 and the QALY gain was 0.17, with an ICER of $306,029 per QALY gained. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.

Conclusion

The addition of TTFields therapy to an ICI or docetaxel in metastatic NSCLC demonstrates comparable cost-effectiveness to other approved treatments. ICERs fall within the accepted range for US cost-effectiveness thresholds, supporting their use in clinical practice. TTFields therapy extended mean lifetime survival, offering a clinically meaningful and economically justifiable option for patients progressing after platinum-based chemotherapy.

Preferences for public health insurance coverage of new anticancer drugs: a discrete choice experiment among non-small cell lung cancer patients in China

BACKGROUND

Ensuring equal access to affordable, high-quality, and satisfied healthcare for cancer patients is a challenge worldwide. Our study aimed to investigate preferences for public health insurance coverage of new anticancer drugs among non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in China.

METHODS

We identified six attributes of new anticancer drugs and adopted a Bayesian-efficient design to generate choice scenarios for a discrete choice experiment (DCE). The one-on-one, face-to-face DCE was conducted in four cities in Jiangsu Province. The mixed logit regression model was used to estimate patient-reported preferences for each attribute. The interaction model was used to investigate preference heterogeneity.

RESULTS

Data from 486 patients were available for analysis. The most valuable attribute was the out-of-pocket cost if reimbursed (RI = 32.25%), followed by extension of overall survival (RI = 15.99%), and low incidence of serious side effects (RI = 14.45%). Patients had the highest willingness to pay for the comparative 9-month' extension of overall survival. Patients with advanced NSCLC were more likely to expect new anticancer drugs could improve HRQoL (p < 0.01) and require fewer out-of-pocket costs (p < 0.01). Older patients and patients with low income cared more about the out-of-pocket costs (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Health insurance policymakers need to consider the affordability, comparative survival benefits, comparative safety, and comparative patient-reported outcomes of new anticancer drugs. The findings also highlight the need to ensure affordability for older patients, low-income patients, and patients with advanced cancer.

Treatment Patterns and Health Care Resource Utilization of Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Puerto Rico: The TREATLINES-ONCOLUNG Study

PURPOSE

Lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. It is the third cause of death among patients with cancer in Puerto Rico (PR) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most prevalent. This study aims to describe the first-line treatment (1LT) and health care resource utilization (HCRU) among patients with NSCLC in PR.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the PR Central Cancer Registry Health Insurance Linkage Database to describe patients with NSCLC from 2012 to 2016. It describes sociodemographic and clinical characteristics on the basis of stage and histology and includes 1LT patterns and HCRU.

RESULTS

A total of 1,011 patients met the inclusion criteria. Most were male (57.1%), married (54.1%), and had no comorbidities (55.8%). A significant proportion of patients (71.1%) were diagnosed at stages III and IV, with nonsquamous cell carcinoma being the most prevalent histology group (75.9%). About 61.7% received systemic therapy, 36.7% received radiotherapy, and 21.9% underwent surgery. Platinum (Pt)-based combinations were the most common 1LT (82.9%). On average, patients had 4.7 emergency room visits, nearly six hospitalizations, and 22.4 outpatient visits annually. The mean frequencies of positron emission tomography, ultrasounds, computerized tomography scans, and magnetic resonance imaging were 0.95, 0.11, 4.88, and 0.91, respectively.

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge, this study provides the first description of 1LT patterns, HCRU, and sociodemographic information among patients with NSCLC in PR. A significant number of patients were diagnosed at stage III or higher and received Pt-based systemic therapy as their 1LT. More research is required to investigate treatment patterns beyond the 1LT and to gain a comprehensive understanding of optimal care interventions and factors associated with early NSCLC diagnosis.

Costs of biomarker testing among patients with metastatic lung or thyroid cancer in the USA: a real-world commercial claims database study

OBJECTIVE

This real-world retrospective database study quantified the costs of biomarker testing in a US population of patients with lung or thyroid cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The commercial claims IBM Marketscan database, a de-identified real-world dataset, was used to identify patients diagnosed with lung or thyroid cancer between 1/2015 and 12/2019. Eligible patients were 18 years or older with two or more lung or thyroid diagnosis codes. Patients were excluded who had evidence of prior cancer diagnoses. Subgroup analyses evaluated eligible patients with metastatic disease. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate commercial insurance plan payer and patient out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic testing overall as well as by test procedure code and payer type. Costs were adjusted to 2020 US dollars.

RESULTS

A total of 23,633 patients with lung cancer were eligible, 13,320 of whom had metastatic disease. There were 36,867 patients with thyroid cancer, 2,241 of whom had metastatic disease. Biomarker codes were observed among 68.4/75.8% (lung/metastatic lung) and 18.2/42.3% (thyroid/metastatic thyroid). Few patients had codes for comprehensive biomarker tests (5.2/6.7% lung/metastatic lung, 0.3/2.2% thyroid/metastatic thyroid) Among those with biomarker tests, the median per-patient total payer lifetime costs of all biomarker testing were $394/$462 (lung/metastatic lung) and $148/$232 (thyroid/metastatic thyroid). Total lifetime biomarker costs for payers ranged from a median of $128 (consumer-driven health plans) to $477 (preferred provider organizations). Median lifetime patient out-of-pocket costs were $0.00 for both tumor types and all payer types except for consumer-driven health plans ($12 for thyroid and $10 for metastatic lung).

CONCLUSIONS

While comprehensive testing adds to the cost of biomarker testing, these data suggest the relatively low lifetime cost of biomarker testing for both payers and patients. Costs for biomarker testing should not be a limitation to access among these populations with commercial insurance plans in the US.

Radionuclide Imaging of Cytotoxic Immune Cell Responses to Anti-Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy is an evolving and promising cancer treatment that takes advantage of the body’s immune system to yield effective tumor elimination. Importantly, immunotherapy has changed the treatment landscape for many cancers, resulting in remarkable tumor responses and improvements in patient survival. However, despite impressive tumor effects and extended patient survival, only a small proportion of patients respond, and others can develop immune-related adverse events associated with these therapies, which are associated with considerable costs. Therefore, strategies to increase the proportion of patients gaining a benefit from these treatments and/or increasing the durability of immune-mediated tumor response are still urgently needed. Currently, measurement of blood or tissue biomarkers has demonstrated sampling limitations, due to intrinsic tumor heterogeneity and the latter being invasive. In addition, the unique response patterns of these therapies are not adequately captured by conventional imaging modalities. Consequently, non-invasive, sensitive, and quantitative molecular imaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using specific radiotracers, have been increasingly used for longitudinal whole-body monitoring of immune responses. Immunotherapies rely on the effector function of CD8⁺ T cells and natural killer cells (NK) at tumor lesions; therefore, the monitoring of these cytotoxic immune cells is of value for therapy response assessment. Different immune cell targets have been investigated as surrogate markers of response to immunotherapy, which motivated the development of multiple imaging agents. In this review, the targets and radiotracers being investigated for monitoring the functional status of immune effector cells are summarized, and their use for imaging of immune-related responses are reviewed along their limitations and pitfalls, of which multiple have already been translated to the clinic. Finally, emerging effector immune cell imaging strategies and future directions are provided.