Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of 177Lu-PSMA-617 Radioligand Therapy in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

• Published in: Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 43
• Main Authors: Mehrens, Dirk, Kramer, Kristina K M, Unterrainer, Lena M, Beyer, Leonie, Bartenstein, Peter, Froelich, Matthias F, Tollens, Fabian, Ricke, Jens, Rübenthaler, Johannes, Schmidt-Hegemann, Nina-Sophie, Herlemann, Annika, Unterrainer, Marcus, Kunz, Wolfgang G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Cost-Benefit Analysis; Cost-Effectiveness Analysis; Dipeptides - adverse effects; Dipeptides - therapeutic use; Humans; Lutetium - adverse effects; Lutetium - therapeutic use; Male; Prostate-Specific Antigen; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant - drug therapy; Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant - radiotherapy; Treatment Outcome; cost-effectiveness; Radioligand Therapy; prostate cancer; Theranostics
• ISSN: 1540-1413
• DOI: 10.6004/jnccn.2022.7070

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer poses a therapeutic challenge with poor prognosis. The VISION trial showed prolonged progression-free and overall survival in patients treated with lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan (177Lu-PSMA-617) radioligand therapy compared with using the standard of care (SoC) alone. The objective of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of 177Lu-PSMA-617 treatment compared with SoC therapy. A partitioned survival model was developed using data from the VISION trial, which included overall and progression-free survival and treatment regimens for 177Lu-PSMA-617 and SoC. Treatment costs, utilities for health states, and adverse events were derived from public databases and the literature. Because 177Lu-PSMA-617 was only recently approved, costs for treatment were extrapolated from 177Lu-DOTATATE. Outcome measurements included the incremental cost, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness ratio. The analysis was performed in a US setting from a healthcare system perspective over the lifetime horizon of 60 months. The willingness-to-pay threshold was set to $50,000, $100,000, and $200,000 per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The 177Lu-PSMA-617 group was estimated to gain 0.42 incremental QALYs. Treatment using 177Lu-PSMA-617 led to an increase in costs compared with SoC ($169,110 vs $85,398). The incremental cost, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness ratio for 177Lu-PSMA-617 therapy was $200,708/QALYs. Sensitivity analysis showed robustness of the model regarding various parameters, which remained cost-effective at all lower and upper parameter bounds. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulation with 10,000 iterations, therapy using 177Lu-PSMA-617 was determined as the cost-effective strategy in 37.14% of all iterations at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $200,000/QALYs. Treatment using 177Lu-PSMA-617 was estimated to add a notable clinical benefit over SoC alone. Based on the model results, radioligand therapy represents a treatment strategy for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with cost-effectiveness in certain scenarios.