with a total cost of €85.00.
The differential total costs were
+€10.46, +€27.07 and +€23.05 for
Apr+Ond, Apr+Pal and Fos+Gra,
respectively. 15
Conclusions
CINV still represents a considerable
burden from a clinical point
of view (for example, worse
clinical outcomes because of
reduced patient compliance
to the prescribed cycles of
chemotherapy), from an economic
perspective (for example, avoidable
consumption of healthcare and
non-healthcare resources to deal
with CINV) and from the point of
view of patients and caregivers
given the negative impact on
patients’ quality of life. For
these reasons, it is particularly
crucial to develop new treatment
strategies to fight nausea and
vomiting in patients undergoing
chemotherapy. However, these
new therapies would need
to be evaluated also from a
pharmacoeconomic perspective,
in order to test their cost-
effectiveness and ultimately ensure
that the incremental costs of
innovation are outweighed by the
additional benefits to both patients
and healthcare systems.
References
1 World Health Organization. NDC mortality
and morbidity. www.who.int/gho/ncd/mortality_
morbidity/en/ (accessed August 2018).
2 World Health Organization. Cancer Fact
sheets. www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/
detail/cancer (accessed August 2018).
50 | 2018 | hospitalpharmacyeurope.com
3 Luengo-Fernandez R et al. Economic
burden of cancer across the European Union:
a population-based cost analysis. Lancet Oncol
2013;14(12):1165–74.
4 Oncology Nursing Society. Know the basics
of CINV. www.ons.org/node/1209 (accessed
August 2018).
5 Sommariva S et al. Impact of chemotherapy-
induced nausea and vomiting on health-related
quality of life and resource utilization:
a systematic review. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol
2016;99:13–36.
6 Hassan BA, Yusoff ZB. Negative impact of
chemotherapy on breast cancer patients QOL
– utility of antiemetic treatment guidelines
and the role of race. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev
2010;11(6):1523–7.
7 Cohen L et al. Chemotherapy-induced nausea
and vomiting: incidence and impact on patient
quality of life at community oncology settings.
Support Care Cancer 2007;15(5):497–503.
8 Tarricone R. COI analysis: what room in health
economics? Health Policy 2006;77(1):51–63.
9 Ballatori E et al. The cost of chemotherapy-
induced nausea and vomiting in Italy. Supportive
Care Cancer 2007;15(1):31–8.
10 Institute for Quality and Efficiency in
Healthcare (IQWiG). Working paper on cost
estimation, 2009. www.iqwig.de/download/
Working_Paper_Cost_Estimation.pdf (accessed
August 2018).
11 Lachaine J et al. Chemotherapy-induced
emesis: quality of life and economic impact
in the context of current practice in Canada.
Support Cancer Ther 2005;2(3):181–7.
12 Drummond MF et al (eds). Methods for
the Economic Evaluation of Health Care
Programmes. 4th edn. Oxford University
Press; 2015.
13 Turini M et al. An assessment of
chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting
direct costs in three EU countries. Drugs
Context 2015;4:212285.
14 Jones AL, Lee GJ, Bosanquet N. The
budgetary impact of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists
in the management of chemotherapy-induced
emesis. Eur J Cancer 1992;29a(1):51–6.
15 Bourhis F et al. NEPA, a fixed combination of
netupitant and palonosetron, is a cost-effective
intervention for the prevention of chemotherapy-
induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in Germany
and Greece. Submitted to ISPOR 2018.