Trends in antineoplastic drug use, cost and prescribing patterns among patients with lung cancer in nine major cities of China, 2016–2020: a retrospective observational study based on inpatient and outpatient hospital data

Abstract

ObjectivesIt is unclear whether the use of antineoplastic drugs for patients with lung cancer in China has changed after the implementation of the national drug price negotiation in 2016 and continual update of clinical guidelines. This study aims to evaluate the trends in antineoplastic drug use, cost and prescribing patterns among patients with lung cancer in major cities of China.DesignWe conducted a retrospective observational study using data from January 2016 to December 2020.SettingThis study used prescription records based on inpatient and outpatient hospital data from 97 hospitals in 9 major cities of China.ParticipantsA total of 218 325 antineoplastic drug prescriptions in patients with lung cancer were retrospectively collected from the Hospital Prescription Analysis Cooperative Project during the study period.Outcome measuresTrends in antineoplastic drug use, cost and prescribing patterns among patients with lung cancer.ResultsThe yearly antineoplastic prescriptions increased by 85.6% from 28 594 in 2016 to 53 063 in 2020 (Z=1.71, p=0.086). Significant increases were seen in the prescriptions for protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs) and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), whereas significant decreases were observed in antimetabolites, plant alkaloids and platinum compounds. The yearly cost increased progressively by 145.0% from ¥113.6 million in 2016 to ¥278.3 million in 2020 (Z=2.20, p=0.027). The top three anticancer drug classes in terms of total cost were PKIs, antimetabolites and mAbs. In prescribing patterns of antineoplastic agents for lung cancer, monotherapy, and triple or more drug combinations gradually increased, while dual combinations decreased significantly from 30.8% to 19.6%.ConclusionsPrescription practices among patients with lung cancer in China underwent major changes during the study period. The observed trends can aid in understanding the present medication use status of patients with lung cancer in China and provide information for future drug management.

Retrospective analysis of real‐world prescribing data for managing cisplatin‐based chemotherapy‐induced nausea and vomiting in China

“…The data were obtained from the Hospital Prescription Analysis Cooperative Project (HPACP), which is endorsed by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association. The HPACP database, established in 1997, regularly collects prescription data from participating hospitals on 10 randomly working days each quarter 20 …”

Assessment of the implementation of accelerated drug marketing registration procedures for antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents in China: based on 2016–2022 review data

“…China is the second largest prescription drug market in the world, and with the rising incidence of oncology and immune diseases, the demand for antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents is growing ( Huang et al, 2021 ; Zhong et al, 2021 ; Shang et al, 2023 ). To this end, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has carried out a series of reforms to the drug review and approval system since 2015, as shown in Supplementary Table S1 , which has had a huge impact on the R&D, approval, and clinical application of antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents.…”