Clinical and cost effectiveness of bevacizumab + FOLFIRI combination versus FOLFIRI alone as first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer in South Korea

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Bevacizumab has been extensively investigated in combination with various standard chemotherapies in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, a comparison to irinotecan + infusional 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (FOLFIRI) is lacking.

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adding bevacizumab to a regimen of FOLFIRI for the first-line treatment of mCRC in the Republic of Korea by conducting an indirect treatment comparison.

METHODS: A health-economic model was developed to investigate the possible health outcomes (life-years gained [LYG]), direct costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of adding bevacizumab to a FOLFIRI regimen. Data on progression-free and overall survival were derived from randomized clinical trials and were used in the indirect treatment comparison. The annual discount rate for costs and outcomes was 5%. A lifetime horizon of 8 years was used. Sensitivity analyses were carried out on all pivotal model assumptions.

RESULTS: Incremental mean overall survival among patients treated with bevacizumab + FOLFIRI varied between 8.6 and 15.7 months compared with patients treated with FOLFIRI alone. The deterministic base-case result was 1.177 LYG. The discounted ICERs ranged from μ31.8 to μ39.5 million/LYG, with the base-case result being μ34.5 million/LYG. Treatment effect had the most impact on the outcomes in this model.

CONCLUSIONS: Although there is no formal threshold for ICER per LYG in Korea, funding may be considered for bevacizumab + FOLFIRI, particularly if the severity and end-of-life nature of mCRC is taken into account.