The cost-effectiveness of tumor-treating fields therapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma

Abstract

The ICER of TTF therapy at first-line treatment is far beyond conventional thresholds due to the prohibitive announced cost of the device. Strong price regulation by health authorities could make this technology more affordable and consequently accessible to patients.

European Association for Neuro-Oncology (EANO) guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of adult astrocytic and oligodendroglial gliomas

“…Questions regarding mode of action, interpretation of data and impact on quality of life have been raised, 58 and the place and cost-effectiveness of TTFields in the standard of care for newly diagnosed glioblastoma remain to be defined. 59 Standards of care for patients with recurrent glioblastoma are not well defined.…”

Current Standards of Care in Glioblastoma Therapy

“…Another important point is the high cost of this therapeutic approach (about $20,000 monthly). Strong price regulation by health authorities could make this technology more affordable and consequently accessible to patients (209). TTFields plus TMZ represents the first major advance in the field of GBM therapy in roughly a decade, and it should be considered for patients with nGBM and no contraindications.…”

The cost and value of glioblastoma therapy

“…By keeping survival similar, with the caveat of small sample size and the resulting relatively large confidence intervals, value is improved by delivering similar outcomes at what would be expected to be lower cost. On the other side, small improvements in outcomes at greatly increased cost leads to decreased relative value [16,17]. An example which highlights decreased value of an additional novel therapy in GBM is a recent economic assessment of the Avastin in Glioblastoma (AVAglio) trial [16].…”

“…It was therefore not likely to be cost-effective in treating adult patients with newly diagnosed GBM. An additional study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of adding tumor-treating fields (TTF) therapy to standard of care for the treatment of newly diagnosed patients with GBM [17]. The authors calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per life year gained of adding TTF therapy utilizing Markov models.…”