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Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk is higher among patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and specific subgroups, including the elderly, but little is known about the VTE risk of different generations of epidermal growth factor receptor–tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR‐TKIs) and whether the risk differs by demographic characteristics. This study aims to compare the risk of VTE (deep venous thromboembolism [DVT]; pulmonary embolism [PE]) between a third‐generation EGFR‐TKI and first/second‐generation EGFR‐TKIs and stratify VTE risk by sex, age, and race/ethnicity in third‐generation EGFR‐TKI users. Methods: Via the 2006–2019 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare database, this retrospective cohort study included older patients (aged ≥65 years) with advanced NSCLC who initiated on a third‐generation EGFR‐TKI (n = 493) and first/second‐generation EGFR‐TKIs (n = 1036). We estimated the hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) with the Cox proportional hazards model. Results: A third‐generation EGFR‐TKI had a significantly higher VTE risk than first/second‐generation EGFR‐TKIs (HR, 1.26 [95% CI, 1.01–1.57]; p =.037), with an elevated risk in males (HR, 2.16 [95% CI, 1.47–3.19]; p <.001), patients aged ≥75 years (HR, 1.38 [95% CI, 1.04–1.83]; p =.026), and non‐Hispanic Whites (HR, 1.46 [95% CI, 1.10–1.95]; p =.010). Males consistently showed a significantly higher risk of DVT (HR, 2.49 [95% CI, 1.29–4.80]; p =.007) and PE (HR, 2.00 [95% CI, 1.29–3.11]; p =.002). A significantly higher risk of DVT (HR, 1.54 [95% CI, 1.00–2.37]; p =.050) and PE (HR, 1.47 [95% CI, 1.06–2.05]; p =.021) was shown in patients aged ≥75 years and non‐Hispanic Whites, respectively. Among third‐generation EGFR‐TKI users, non‐Hispanic Whites had a significantly higher risk of VTE (HR, 2.04 [95% CI, 1.03–4.02]; p =.041) and PE (HR, 2.88 [95% CI, 1.24–6.70]; p =.014) than non‐Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islanders. Conclusions: Close monitoring of VTE events in high‐risk patients is essential to promote early diagnosis and treatment. In older patients with non–small cell lung cancer, those treated with osimertinib (a third‐generation epidermal growth factor receptor–tyrosine kinase inhibitor [EGFR‐TKI]) had a significantly higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) than those treated with traditional EGFR‐TKIs. The risk was elevated in patients who were male, aged ≥75 years, and non‐Hispanic White, which raises the need for close monitoring of VTE when using osimertinib. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The cardiovascular risk associated with the newer epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), osimertinib, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is being reported. While more than half of patients with NSCLC are aged 65 or older, whether the cardiovascular risk increases in older patients treated with osimertinib compared to traditional EGFR-TKIs has not been clearly identified. Objectives: We aimed to identify the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in older patients treated with osimertinib and traditional EGFR-TKIs, stratifying by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Design: A retrospective cohort study. Methods: Using the 2006–2019 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare, older patients with advanced NSCLC prescribed EGFR-TKIs were included. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of incident MACEs were calculated using Cox proportional hazard model. Results: Osimertinib had a significantly higher risk of heart failure (HF) [HR, 1.20 (95% CI, 1.01–1.42)] and a lower risk of angina [HR, 0.36 (95% CI, 0.20–0.64)] than first/second-generation EGFR-TKI. The risk of HF and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was significantly elevated in female [HR, 1.40 (95% CI, 1.13–1.73)] and male [HR, 1.98 (95% CI, 1.13–3.48)] subgroups, respectively, when used osimertinib than first/second-generation EGFR-TKIs. Within osimertinib users, the risk of HF was higher in patients aged ⩾75 (versus aged 65–74) [HR, 1.71 (95% CI, 1.07–2.71)], White patients (versus Asian/Pacific Islanders patients) [HR, 1.80 (95% CI, 1.04–3.12)]. The risk of AMI within osimertinib users was higher in White [HR, 3.23 (95% CI, 1.34–7.80)] and Black [HR, 5.63 (95% CI, 1.23–25.87)] than Asian/Pacific Islanders patients. Conclusion: Increased risk of HF was observed in patients who are female, White, and aged ⩾75 while male patients had a higher risk of AMI when treated with osimertinib than first/second-generation EGFR-TKIs. The in-depth examination of osimertinib-induced cardiotoxicity provides evidence for individualized cardiotoxicity surveillance, prevention, and treatment for osimertinib users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although many patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) experience recurrence despite complete resection, few studies have reported on the corresponding economic burden. This study aimed to understand the economic impact of recurrence by measuring healthcare costs and resource utilization in patients with recurrent stage IB-IIIA NSCLC. Methods: Using Health Insurance Review and Assessment claims data from South Korea, we included patients who underwent complete resection for stage IB-IIIA NSCLC during the index period (January 1, 2012, to October 31, 2018). Patients who experienced recurrence were matched with those who did not using 1:1 propensity score (PS) matching. The mean healthcare costs and resource utilization were analyzed from the date of complete resection to the last claims for cancer treatment. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to estimate the impact of covariates on healthcare costs. A difference-in-difference (DID) analysis was conducted to analyze the healthcare costs between the two groups before and after recurrence. Results: Patients with recurrence incurred higher healthcare costs, particularly in outpatient settings. The cost of targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors primarily contributed to cost differences, and medication costs increased over time after complete resection. Patients with recurrence were also hospitalized more frequently (9.3 vs. 5.0, p < 0.0001) for a longer period (74 days vs. 42 days, p < 0.0001) than those without recurrence. GLM analysis showed that the total cost was 2.31-fold higher in patients with recurrence (95% confidence interval: 2.19–2.44). The DID analysis showed significantly increased total costs in patients with recurrence (β = 26,269, p < 0.0001), which was mostly attributed to medication costs (β = 17,951, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Recurrence of completely resected NSCLC leads to a substantial increase in healthcare costs and resource utilization. The results of this study show the economic burden of recurrence, which may help future economic analyses and resource allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The disease burden of active tuberculosis (TB) is considerable, but systematic reviews of economic evaluations of active TB treatments are scarce. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases were used to search for articles on cost-effectiveness analysis or cost-utility analysis that economically evaluated active TB treatments, which were then systematically reviewed by two independent reviewers. We extracted vital components of the included studies, such as country, population, intervention/comparator, primary outcome, values of outcomes, thresholds, model type, time horizon, and health states included in the model. Results: Seventeen studies were included in this systematic review. Thirteen dealt with interventions of medications, and the remaining four compared care strategies. The Markov model was the most commonly used tool to compare medications, whereas studies on care plans mainly used decision trees. The most commonly used primary outcome was disability-adjusted life years, followed by quality-adjusted life years. For treatment-naïve TB, the 4-month regimen was more cost-effective than the 6-month regimen mainly in low- and middle-income countries. For multidrug-resistant TB, a bedaquiline-based regimen was cost-effective. For multidrug-resistant TB, decentralized care that employed the use of home or mobile devices was more cost-effective than hospital-based centralized care in low- and middle-income countries. Conclusion: New treatment strategies to improve therapeutic outcomes by enhancing treatment adherence, such as regimens with shorter durations (2 or 4 months) and decentralized care, or new anti-TB agents (e.g., bedaquiline) have been suggested as cost-effective interventions for active TB. This review provides information on the economic evaluation of active TB from good-quality studies, thus aiding the future economic evaluation of active TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]