Bevacizumab treatment in metastatic colorectal carcinoma - an economic perspective

Abstract

Targeted therapy is a significant benefit in the treatment of cancer patients. Bevacizumab improves overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The clinical effectiveness of bevacizumab is similar to its efficacy in randomised controlled trials. However, the costs of bevacizumab treatment as well as other agents of targeted treatment are discussed between the health care payers, the regulatory authorities and the members of professional societies. Biomarkers of bevacizumab treatment helpful in the selection of eligible groups of patients are still missing. This review focuses on current bevacizumab therapy of mCRC from the pharmacoeconomic perspective. The cost per a 14-day bevacizumab treatment cycle is approximately 31,000 CZK in the Czech Republic. External published pharmacoeconomics analyses have no clear conclusions. Their results are usually expressed as the cost per QALY gained in comparison with a comparator. They differ according to the economic situation of the particular countries. The pharmacoeconomic results have to be confirmed in the real clinical practice, and then the decision should be reassessed by using the uniform methodology, e.g. the Health Technology Assessment (HTA).

Keywords: QALY; bevacizumab; metastatic colorectal cancer; targeted biological therapy.