1. Yttrium-90 Radioembolization Is Cost Effective in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A SEER Medicare Population Study
- Author
-
Anish Ghodadra, Di Zhang, Minzhi Xing, and Hyun Soo Kim
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Time Factors ,Databases, Factual ,Combination therapy ,Cost-Benefit Analysis ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Antineoplastic Agents ,Medicare ,Drug Costs ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,Cholangiocarcinoma ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Internal medicine ,Humans ,Medicine ,Yttrium Radioisotopes ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,Survival analysis ,Aged ,Retrospective Studies ,Aged, 80 and over ,Chemotherapy ,business.industry ,Hazard ratio ,Cancer ,Chemoradiotherapy ,Health Care Costs ,medicine.disease ,Embolization, Therapeutic ,United States ,Confidence interval ,Treatment Outcome ,Bile Duct Neoplasms ,Quartile ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Population study ,Female ,Radiopharmaceuticals ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business ,SEER Program - Abstract
Purpose To analyze the cost-effectiveness of radioembolization in the treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Medicare cancer database. Materials and Methods Cost as measured by total treatment-related reimbursement in patients diagnosed with ICC who received chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy and yttrium-90 radioembolization was assessed in the SEER Medicare cancer database (1999–2012). Survival analysis was performed, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were generated. Results The study included 585 patients. Average age at diagnosis was 71 years (standard deviation: 9.9), and 52% of patients were male. Twelve percent of patients received chemotherapy with radioembolization (n = 72), and 88% of patients (n = 513) received only chemotherapy. Median survival was 1043 days (95% confidence interval [CI]: 894–1244) for chemotherapy plus radioembolization and 811 days (95% CI: 705–925) for chemotherapy alone (P = .02). Patients who received combination therapy were slightly younger (71 vs 69 years, P = .03). No significant differences were observed between treatment groups in age at treatment, sex, race, or city size. Multivariable analysis showed a hazard ratio for progression for combination therapy versus chemotherapy alone of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.59–0.97, P = .029). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, a measure of cost of each added year of life, was $50,058.65 per year (quartiles: $11,454.63, $52,763.28). Conclusions Combination therapy of ICC with chemotherapy and radioembolization is associated with higher median survival and can be a cost-effective treatment, with a median cost of $50,058.65 per additional year of survival.
- Published
- 2019