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Health Resource Utilization in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy in China

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Abstract

Background and Objectives

Chemotherapy is the preferred treatment regimen for advanced lung cancer patients. This study investigated the health resources utilized by and medical expenses of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as well as the influence of various chemotherapy regimens on the final medical costs in China. The aim of this study was to provide physicians with a reference to use as the basis for their choice of treatment.

Methods

Data were collected from the Shanghai Chest Hospital’s medical charts and billing database. The collected patient information included the baseline characteristics, medical history, chemotherapy regimens, and medical costs, which were used to estimate the health resources utilized by patients and the cost of treatment.

Results

This study included 328 patients, and the average total medical cost was $US14,165. This cost included drugs, which accounted for as much as 78.91 % of the total cost, and chemotherapy drugs, which accounted for 51.58 % of total drug expenses. The most frequently utilized chemotherapy drug was carboplatin, and the most expensive chemotherapy drug was erlotinib. In drug combinations, gemcitabine was utilized most frequently, the combination of gemcitabine and paclitaxel was the most expensive, and cisplatin was the least expensive drug. Epidermal growth factor receptor-positive patients were treated with targeted drug therapy (icotinib, erlotinib, and gefitinib). The use of recombinant human endostatin was often combined with a vinorelbine plus cisplatin regimen. Traditional Chinese medicines were the most frequently utilized non-chemotherapy drugs, and these drugs were also the most expensive.

Conclusions

The final cost significantly depended on the specific chemotherapy regimen; thus, the rationale and cost of the chemotherapy regimen and adjuvant chemotherapy should be considered in patients with advanced NSCLC.

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Acknowledgments

Jun Zhu participated in the design of this study. Jing Shi performed the statistical analysis and collected important background information. Jun Zhu conceived the study, participated in the design, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Jing Shi & Jun Zhu

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  1. Jing Shi
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  2. Jun Zhu
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Correspondence to Jun Zhu.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Key Discipline and Specialty Foundation of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning (Grant No. 2012ZDXK003).

Conflicts of interest

We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

The Ethics Committee of Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, approved this study.

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Shi, J., Zhu, J. Health Resource Utilization in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy in China. Clin Drug Investig 36, 77–86 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-015-0356-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-015-0356-9

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