Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Lenvatinib plus Pembrolizumab or Everolimus as First-Line Treatment for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Recently, due to its promising efficacy against advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the combination therapy with lenvatinib and pembrolizumab or everolimus has been approved as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced RCC in China and the United States. However, the high costs of combination therapies, especially of those new drugs, may limit their viability as clinical treatment options. Thus, our study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab or everolimus as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced RCC from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system and US third-party payers.

METHODS

We established a Markov model using TreeAge Pro 2022 software to estimate and compare the cost and effectiveness of the therapy with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab or everolimus with those of sunitinib therapy for treating advanced RCC based on the clinical data derived from a phase III randomized controlled trial (CLEAR, ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT02811861). Transition probabilities and other data were calculated and obtained by using parametric survival modeling. The direct medical costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were used as economic indicators in this analysis. The robustness of the model was assessed by performing one-way and probability sensitivity analyses (PSA).

RESULTS

Among the 3 treatment strategies, the sunitinib 1 was the least expensive option. All ICERs were far higher than the thresholds of $38,024 and $100,000 selected for China and the United States, respectively. The ICERs of the therapy with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab versus sunitinib therapy were 106,749.06 US$/QALY and $414,672.19 US$/QALY in China and the United States, respectively. Thus, among these 2, the former strategy was less cost-effective than the latter. In addition, the ICERs of the lenvatinib plus everolimus treatment vs. sunitinib treatment were $44,353.18 US$/QALY and $292,653.10 US$/QALY in China and the United States, respectively. Thus, among these 2 strategies, the former was less cost-effective than the latter. The total cost of the lenvatinib plus everolimus treatment strategy was lower than that of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab; however, the former treatment was less effective than the latter.

CONCLUSION

The treatment with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab or everolimus is less cost-effective than the sunitinib treatment for patients with advanced RCC in China and the United States.