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Cost-effectiveness analysis of cetuximab combined with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer patients based on the TAILOR trial

Cite this dataset

Wang, Huijuan et al. (2020). Cost-effectiveness analysis of cetuximab combined with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer patients based on the TAILOR trial [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.15dv41ntb

Abstract

Objectives Cetuximab plus leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX-4) is superior to FOLFOX-4 alone as a first-line treatment for patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (wt mCRC), with significantly improved survival benefit by TAILOR, an open-label, randomized, multicentre, phase III trial. Nevertheless, the cost-effectiveness of these two regimens remains uncertain. The following study aims to determine whether cetuximab combined with FOLFOX-4 is a cost-effective strategy for specific RAS wt mCRC patients in China.

Design A combined decision tree and Markov model with three health states (stable, progressive and dead) was constructed to simulate a hypothetical cohort of patients with RAS wt mCRC. The health outcomes and utility scores were derived from the TAILOR trial and previously published sources, respectively. Costs were calculated with reference to the Chinese societal perspective. A lifetime horizon was used. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were carried out to test the robustness of the model results.

Participants The included patients were newly diagnosed Chinese patients with fully RAS wt mCRC. Interventions Either cetuximab plus FOLFOX-4 or FOLFOX-4 alone as a first-line treatment.

Main outcome measures The primary outcomes are costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).

Results Baseline analysis showed that the addition of cetuximab increased the QALYs by 0.383, while an increase of $62,947 was observed in relation to FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy. This led to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $164,044/QALY. Sensitivity analysis showed that across the wide variation in parameters, the ICER exceeded the willingness-to-pay threshold of $28,106/QALY, which was three times the per capita GDP in China.

Conclusions Despite the survival benefit, cetuximab combined with FOLFOX-4 is not a cost-effective treatment for the first line treatment of patients with RAS wt mCRC in China.

Usage notes

This is a combined decision analytic tree and Markov model designed to compare the cost effectiveness of cetuximab plus FOLFOX-4  and FOLFOX-4 alone strategies described in the article.

The survival probability and responding time data were extracted from published OS and PFS curves via Engauge Digitizer Software.

Using Weibull distributions via GA package of R to obtain the scale parameters (λ), and shape parameters (γ).

A dynamic Markov model was built in TreeAge pro Suite.