Nivolumab plus ipilimumab is associated with lower all-cause adverse event cost per patient compared with other first-line therapies for non—small–cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study presented at the virtual 2020 ESMO Annual Congress.
The study compared all-cause adverse event cost of nivolumab plus ipilimumab to chemotherapy, pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, and atezolizumab plus chemotherapy as first-line therapy for stage IV or recurrent NSCLC.
Grade 3/4 all-cause adverse event rates were obtained from individual patient data from the CheckMate-227 clinical trial and aggregate data from the KEYNOTE-189, KEYNOTE-407, and IMpower130 trials. Costs were obtained from the US Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.
Nivolumab plus ipilimumab was compared to chemotherapy overall and within programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) subgroups (≥1% and <1%) in the CheckMate-227 trial.
Within CheckMate-227, the mean all-cause adverse event cost per patient for nivolumab plus ipilimumab compared with chemotherapy was $2013 versus $3236 in PD-L1 ≥1%, $2,300 versus $4,735 in PD-L1 <1%, and $1,966 versus $3,704 overall.
Nivolumab plus ipilimumab also had lower costs compared to pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy and atezolizumab plus chemotherapy.
Additionally, the rates of hematological adverse events were lower for nivolumab plus ipilimumab compared to the other first-line therapy regimens.—Janelle Bradley
Lubinga SJ, King SB, Betts KA, et al. Trial-based costs of all-cause adverse events in first-line therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: Findings from CheckMate-227. Presented at ESMO Virtual Congress 2020. September 17, 2020. Abstract 1282P.
