Cost of the treatment of myelodisplastic syndrome in Brazil

Abstract

Cost of the treatment of myelodisplastic syndrome in BrazilIntroduction: Myelodysplastic syndrome is an incurable and rare hematological disease that affects the production of blood cells. One aim of treatment is to maintain the blood-cell count to near-normal levels. This is mainly achieved with hematopoietic-growth factors and transfusions. Our objective was to determine the cost of supportive treatment/care for patients with low and intermediate I risk myelodysplastic syndrome in respect to private healthcare plans in Brazil. Method: We adapted the National Comprehensive Cancer Network treatment guidelines for intermediate risk myelodysplastic syndrome patients to the Brazilian reality, adopting a decision tree to explore treatment combinations. Then, we calculated the costs for each branch of the tree, according to national prices. We also estimated total costs for a cohort of 100 patients, distributed across treatment combinations according to the expected epidemiology. We assumed a horizon of one year of treatment.