Reviewing a Cost-Effective Treatment Option for RR DLBCL

Adding polatuzumab vedotin (pola) to bendamustine + rituximab (BR) is cost-effective compared with BR alone in patients with transplant-ineligible relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (R/R DLBCL), according to a study published in the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research. 

“Following the recent approval of pola + BR in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with R/R DLBCL, not otherwise specified, after at least two prior therapies, it is important for payers to understand the economic benefits of this regimen compared with the existing recommended standards of care,” researchers wrote. 

The cost-effectiveness study took a US payer perspective and incorporated survival data from the GO29365 trial. 

Treatment with pola + BR was associated with 3.09 incremental life years and 2.57 incremental quality-adjusted life years compared with BR alone in the base case, according to the study. Estimated total lifetime costs, which included factors such as drug acquisition and administration, adverse events, progression-free survival routine care, progressed disease care, and end-of-life care, were $210,418 for pola + BR and $118,088 with BR.

With a total incremental cost of $92,329 for pola + BR, the regimen appeared cost-effective at $29,881 per life year and $35,864 per quality-adjusted life year gained, researchers reported. 

“The results of this cost-effective analysis model suggest that, from the perspective of a US third-party payer, pola + BR represents a cost-effective option compared with BR alone for the treatment of patients with R/R DLBCL who are ineligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation,” they wrote. “This cost-effectiveness was robust in sensitivity analyses.” 

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference 

Betts KA, Thuresson PO, Felizzi F, et al. US cost-effectiveness of polatuzumab vedotin, bendamustine and rituximab in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. J Comp Eff Res. 2020;9(14):1003-1015. doi:10.2217/cer-2020-0057