Quality Assessment of Published Economic Evaluations of Targeted Therapies in Breast Cancer. A Systematic Review.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Globally, 7.8 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, with 685,000 mortalities identified in 2020 alone, making it the most prevalent and fatal form of cancer among women. Patients with TNBC and HER2-enriched subtypes are likely to benefit from targeted therapies due to their high response rate and limited alternatives. Although extremely effective, targeted therapies tend to be very expensive, with no single therapy having an average annual cost under $100,000 USD (£75,460.62 GBP). Objective: To assess the quality of published economic evaluations of targeted therapies in breast cancer. Methods: Relevant databases were searched using developed search terminologies. Data were extracted into a data extraction form. The Philips checklist was used for quality assessment. Results: The search identified 17 studies, all showing deviation from the checklist. Of these, 14 interventions were not cost-effective, with contradictory results mainly due to the lack of consensus on WTP threshold adoption and differences in data sources used. 3 Conclusion: Improvements are needed in the quality and quantity of available studies, especially in LMICs where mortality rates are higher, to assist decision-making. The search yielded only model-based economic evaluations, which requires further assessment.