Healthcare resource utilization and economic burden of metastatic pancreatic cancer: a US commercial and Medicare claims analysis.

AIM: To assess healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs among patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC).

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Adult US patients with an mPC diagnosis based on index date 1 January 2020-31 December 2022 were identified in the Merative MarketScan database. All-cause healthcare visits and costs (USD) were estimated per-person-per-month (PPPM) for 1 year post-index period. First-line (1L) treatments (≤90 days post-index) were categorized as FOLFIRINOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan, oxaliplatin)-based, gemcitabine+paclitaxel-based, other, or none.

RESULTS

Claims from 2318 patients with mPC were included: 68.6% (1589/2318) with commercial and 31.4% (729/2318) with Medicare. Mean total costs PPPM were $34,215 with commercial and $15,158 with Medicare. A total of 25.7% (409/1589) of commercially insured patients and 43.2% (315/729) of Medicare-insured patients did not receive 1L treatment. Median (interquartile range) cumulative length of stay was 0.8 days (0.1-2.4) with commercial insurance and 0.7 days (0.0-2.4) with Medicare. All-cause PPPM costs were higher for patients without 1L treatment than with 1L treatment in both insurance types, primarily driven by inpatient and outpatient visits.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with mPC experienced high economic burden, mostly attributable to inpatient and outpatient costs. The high rate of patients with mPC not receiving 1L treatment merits further exploration.