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Gastroenterologie
a hepatologie

Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Gastroent Hepatol 2015; 69(6): 504– 508. doi:10.14735/amgh2015504.

The diagnosis and therapy of colorectal cancer from a pharmacoeconomic perspective

Daniela Mináriková Orcid.org  1, Ján Bielik Orcid.org  2, Ivona Malovecká3, Peter Minárik Orcid.org  4, Katarína Gatialová3, Viliam Foltán3

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Summary

Malignant tumours of the colon and rectum rank among the most common types of cancer in the population. In 2008 in Slovakia, colorectal cancer was the most common type of cancer in men (14.5%), while in women it was the second most common type of cancer (10.8%). Biological therapy and new anticancer drugs can greatly improve the prognosis of the disease evolution, but they increase the cost of therapy and require effective provision of oncological health care. Objective: The work presents selected pharmacoeconomic data concerning current colorectal cancer therapy and evaluates the cost-effectiveness of aflibercept in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods: Cost minimisation analysis was used to compare the efficacy and costs of aflibercept to bevacizumab. Cost utility analysis was used with Markov simulation model for assessing aflibercept in combination with FOLFIRI and bevacizumab in combination with FOLFIRI. Results: Treatment with aflibercept results in a saving of 26 Euros from public funds per cycle compared to initiating therapy with bevacizumab. The cost of treatment of one patient with aflibercept in second-line treatment in combination with FOLFIRI throughout their lifetime is 417 Euros lower and this treatment brings 0.03 QALY more than the therapy with bevacizumab in combination with FOLFIRI. The ICUR value for aflibercept + FOLFIRI compared to bevacizumab + FOLFIRI is –15 700 Euros. Conclusion: The evaluation of aflibercept’s cost-effectiveness confirms that it is a cost-saving alternative in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer patients and in combination with FOLFIRI it represents a dominant therapeutic strategy. However, for a comprehensive assessment in future analyses it will be necessary to take into account the indirect costs of the given treatment.

Keywords

biologic therapy, pharmacoeconomics, colorectal cancer

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