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Objective: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is characterized by low platelet counts and a tendency toward increased bleeding and bruising. We aimed to describe bleeding frequency and use of rescue ITP therapy to treat or prevent bleeding in elderly ITP patients in a real-world setting.Methods: Using Medicare 20% sample data, 2007-2012, we identified elderly (ages ≥67 years) Medicare fee-for-service enrollees diagnosed with primary ITP between 1 January 2009 and 30 September 2012. Bleeding-related episodes (BREs) were defined as ≥1 bleeding event or use of ITP therapies commonly considered for rescue or emergency therapy. BRE rates were examined for the cohort overall, by time since ITP onset, and by splenectomy status. Patients were followed from ITP onset until the earliest of death, disenrollment from fee-for-service coverage, or 31 December 2012.Results: We identified 3007 elderly patients diagnosed with primary ITP (mean [SD] age: 79.6 [7.5] years; 55% female); 2178 (72%) experienced at least one BRE (8867 BREs); 92 (3%) underwent splenectomy. Nearly half of BREs were defined by rescue therapy use alone. The overall rate was 1.72 BREs per patient-year (95% CI; 1.68-1.75); rates were higher during the first 3 months after ITP onset and after splenectomy.Conclusion: Elderly ITP patients experienced about two BREs per patient-year after ITP onset. Most patients experienced at least one BRE. These real-world results demonstrate the importance of examining both bleeding and use of rescue or emergency ITP therapy in the assessment of disease burden in elderly patients with ITP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examined the incidence of thrombotic/thromboembolic conditions in a population-based cohort of adult Scandinavians with incident of chronic immune thrombocytopenia (cITP). The variables considered include incidence rates of arterial thrombosis (AT) and venous thromboembolism (VTE), splenectomized and non-spectomized patients, and gender difference. A higher incidence of VTE in splenectomized patients is recorded.

Background: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a rare disorder characterized by low platelet counts and an increased tendency to bleed. The goal of ITP therapy is to treat or prevent bleeding. Actual rates of bleeding are unknown. Clinical trial data may not reflect real-world bleeding rates because of the inclusion of highly refractory patients and more frequent use of rescue therapy. Methods: We used administrative medical claims data in the US to examine the occurrence of bleeding-related episodes (BREs)--a composite end point including bleeding and/or rescue therapy use-in adults diagnosed with primary ITP (2008-2012). BRE rates were calculated overall and by ITP phase and splenectomy status. Patients were followed from ITP diagnosis until death, disenrollment from the health plan, or June 30, 2013, whichever came first. Results: We identified 6,651 adults diagnosed with primary ITP over the study period (median age: 53 years; 59% female). During 13,064 patient-years of follow-up, 3,768 patients (57%) experienced ≥1 BRE (1.08 BREs per patient-year; 95% confidence interval: 1.06-1.10). The majority (58%) of BREs consisted of rescue therapy use only. Common bleeding types were gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hematuria, ecchymosis, and epistaxis. Intracranial hemorrhage was reported in 74 patients (1%). Just over 7% of patients underwent splenectomy. Newly diagnosed and splenectomized patients had elevated BRE rates. Conclusion: We provide current real-world estimates of BRE rates in adults with primary ITP. The majority of ITP patients experienced ≥1 BRE, and over half were defined by rescue therapy use alone. This demonstrates the importance of examining both bleeding and rescue therapy use to fully assess disease burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Skeletal-related events (SREs) among patients with bone metastases from lung cancer may be associated with considerable use of health care resources. We analyzed in- and outpatient hospital contacts in relation to SREs among all Danish lung cancer patients with bone metastases. Methods: For this cohort study, we used the Danish Cancer Registry and the Danish National Registry of Patients to identify all persons diagnosed with first-time lung cancer and bone metastases from 2003 through 2009 in Denmark. We followed these patients until December 31, 2010, for the development of SREs (spinal cord compression; pathological or osteoporotic fracture, surgery to bone; or conventional external radiation therapy). We examined the number of inpatient hospitalizations, inpatient bed-days, hospital outpatient clinic visits, and emergency room visits within three time periods: a pre-SRE period (90-day period prior to the diagnostic period), a SRE diagnostic period (14-day period prior to the SRE), and a post-SRE period (90-day period after the SRE). Results: We identified 1,146 patients with lung cancer, bone metastases, and ≥1 subsequent SRE among 28,443 patients with incident lung cancer. Over 75% of patients with SREs (n=852) had more than one SRE. The number of hospital bed-days was high in the post-SRE period compared to the pre-SRE period, as illustrated by patients with multiple SREs who had 10.7 (95% confidence interval, 10.4-10.9) hospital bed-days per 100 person-days in the pre-SRE period and 28.2 (95% confidence interval, 27.8-28.6) bed-days per 100 person-days in the post-SRE period. Conclusion: SREs secondary to bone metastases in lung cancer patients are associated with a substantial number of hospital contacts and hospital bed-days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Since population-based data on prognostic factors affecting survival in patients with breast cancer with bone metastasis (BM) are currently limited, we conducted this nationwide retrospective cohort study to examine the prognostic role of disease stage at breast cancer diagnosis and length of BM-free interval (BMFI). Setting: Denmark. Participants: 2427 women with a breast cancer diagnosis between 1997 and 2011 in the Danish Cancer Registry and a concurrent or subsequent BM diagnosis in the Danish National Registry of Patients. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Survival (crude) based on Kaplan-Meier method and mortality risk (crude and adjusted for age, year of diagnosis, estrogen receptor status and comorbidity) based on Cox proportional hazards regression analyses by stage of disease at breast cancer diagnosis and by length of BMFI (time from breast cancer to BM diagnosis), following patients from BM diagnosis until death, emigration or until 31 December 2012, whichever came first. Results: Survival decreased with more advanced stage of disease at the time of breast cancer diagnosis; risk of mortality during the first year following a BM diagnosis was over two times higher for those presenting with metastatic versus localised disease (adjusted HR=2.12 (95% CI 1.71 to 2.62)). With respect to length of BMFI, survival was highest in women with a BMFI <1 year (ie, in those who presented with BM at the time of breast cancer diagnosis or were diagnosed within 1 year). However, among patients with a BMFI ≥1 year, survival increased with longer BMFI (1-year survival: 39.9% (95% CI 36.3% to 43.6%) for BMFI 1 to <3 years and 52.6% (95% CI 47.4% to 57.6%) for BMFI ≥5 years). This pattern was also observed in multivariate analyses. Conclusions: Stage of disease at breast cancer diagnosis and length of BMFI appear to be important prognostic factors for survival following BM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We describe several methodological issues that were addressed in conducting a Danish population-based matched cohort study comparing rates of new primary cancers (NPCs) in men with and without prostate cancer (PC). Methods: We matched 30,220 men with PC to 151,100 men without PC (comparators) on age (±2 years) and PC diagnosis/index date. We focused on several methodological issues: 1) to address survival differences between the cohorts we compared rates with and without censoring comparators on the date their matched PC patient died or was censored; 2) to address diagnostic bias, we excluded men with a history of cancer from the comparator cohort; 3) to address prostate cancer immunity, we graphed the hazard of NPC in both cohorts, with and without prostate cancer as an outcome; 4) we used empirical Bayes methods to explore the effect of adjusting for multiple comparisons. Results: After 18 months of follow-up, cumulative person-time was lower in the PC than comparator cohort due to higher mortality among PC patients. Terminating person-time in comparators at the matched PC patient's death or loss to follow-up resulted in comparable person-time up to 30 months of follow-up and lower person-time among comparators thereafter. The hazard of NPC was lower among men with PC than comparators throughout follow-up. There was little difference in rates beyond the first four years of follow-up after removing PC as an outcome. Empirical Bayes adjustment for multiple comparisons had little effect on the estimates. Conclusion: Addressing the issues of competing risks, treatment interference or diagnostic bias, prostate cancer immunity due to radical prostatectomy, and multiple comparisons lowered the deficit rate of NPCs among men with a history of PC compared with those without PC. However, the differing rates of NPCs may also be due to risk factor differences between the cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of metastatic bone disease in the US population is not well understood. We sought to estimate the current number of US adults with metastatic bone disease using two large administrative data sets. Methods: Prevalence was estimated from a commercially insured cohort (ages 18-64 years, MarketScan database) and from a fee-for-service Medicare cohort (ages $65 years, Medicare 5% database) with coverage on December 31, 2008, representing approximately two-thirds of the US population in each age group. We searched for claims-based evidence of metastatic bone disease from January 1, 2004, using a combination of relevant diagnosis and treatment codes. The number of cases in the US adult population was extrapolated from age- and sexspecific prevalence estimated in these cohorts. Results are presented for all cancers combined and separately for primary breast, prostate, and lung cancer. Results: In the commercially insured cohort (mean age = 42.3 years [SD = 13.1]), we identified 9505 patients (0.052%) with metastatic bone disease. Breast cancer was the most common primary tumor type (n = 4041). In the Medicare cohort (mean age = 75.6 years [SD = 7.8]), we identified 6427 (0.495%) patients with metastatic bone disease. Breast (n = 1798) and prostate (n = 1862) cancers were the most common primary tumor types. We estimate that 279,679 (95% confidence interval: 274,579-284,780) US adults alive on December 31, 2008, had evidence of metastatic bone disease in the previous 5 years. Breast, prostate, and lung cancers accounted for 68% of these cases. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that approximately 280,000 US adults were living with metastatic bone disease on December 31, 2008. This likely underestimates the true frequency; not all cases of metastatic bone disease are diagnosed, and some diagnosed cases might lack documentation in claims data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This analysis estimated the cost per response and the incremental cost per additional responder of romplostim, eltrombopag, and the "watch-and-rescue" (monitoring until rescue therapies are required) strategy in adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)., Study Design: The decision tree is designed to estimate the total cost per response for romiplostim, eltrombopag, and watch and rescue over a 24-week time horizon; cost-effectiveness was evaluated in terms of incremental cost per additional responder., Methods: Model inputs including response rates, bleeding-related episode (BRE) rates, and costs were estimated from registrational trial data, an independent Bayesian indirect comparison, database analyses, and peer-reviewed publications. Costs were applied to the proportions of patients with treatment response and nonresponse (based on platelet count). The total cost per response and the incremental cost per additional responder for each treatment were calculated. Sensitivity analyses and alternative analyses were performed., Results: With higher total costs and greater treatment efficacy, romiplostim and eltrombopag had a lower 24-week cost per response and a lower average number of BREs than watch and rescue. Eltrombopag was weakly dominated by romiplostim. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of romiplostim versus watch and rescue was $46,000 per additional responder. The model results are most sensitive to response rates of romiplostim and watch and rescue and the BRE rate for splenectomized nonresponders. Alternative analyses results were similar to the base case., Conclusions: In adults with chronic ITP, romiplostim represents an efficient way to achieve response, with lower costs per response than eltrombopag; both romiplostim and eltrombopag had lower costs per response than watch and rescue.

Introduction: Canadian guidelines define castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) at high risk of developing metastases using PSA doubling time (PSADT) < 8 months, whereby men may be offered more frequent bone scans/imaging. We evaluated PSA data from nonmetastatic (M0) prostate cancer patients treated at urology and oncology clinics across the United States (US) to describe the proportion and characteristics of patients who met CRPC and high-risk criteria., Materials and Methods: We identified M0 prostate cancer patients aged = 18 years receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in 2011 from electronic health records (EHR), covering 129 urology and 64 oncology practices across the US. We estimated the proportion of prostate cancer patients with evidence of CRPC (consecutive rising PSAs) and subsets that may be at high risk (using several PSA and PSADT cut-points)., Results: Among 3121 M0 prostate cancer patients actively treated with ADT, 1188 (38%) had evidence of CRPC. Of these, 712 (60%) qualified as high risk in 2011 based on PSADT < 8 months (equivalent to = 8 months in these data). Men = 65 years were more likely to have evidence of CRPC than younger men, although younger men were more likely to have evidence of high-risk disease. CRPC was more common among men receiving ADT in the oncology setting than the urology setting (48% versus 37%)., Conclusions: In this large EHR study with patient-level PSA data, 38% of men with M0 prostate cancer treated with ADT had CRPC. Approximately 60% of M0 CRPC patients may experience a PSADT of < 8 months. These findings require validation in a Canadian patient population.