FOLFIRINOX is a cost-effective combination chemotherapy in first-line for advanced pancreatic Cancer.

OBJECTIVES

The analysis was conducted to assess the effect of front-line combination chemotherapies on progression free survival (PFS).

METHODS

The analysis was restricted to phase III randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in first-line therapy for advanced pancreatic cancer. The European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) was applied to the above phase III RCTs. We have also calculated differences in PFS between the different arms of each trial and the pharmacological costs necessary to get the benefit in PFS, for each trial.

RESULTS

Our study evaluated 11 phase III randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including 4572 patients. Combining the costs of therapy with the measure of efficacy represented by the PFS, we have obtained 74.12 € per month of PFS gained for 5-FU, leucovorin, irinotecan and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX), 90.14 per month of PFS gained for gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) and 4708.70 € per month of PFS gained for the combination of gemcitabine plus nab-pacliatxel against gemcitabine alone.

CONCLUSIONS

Combining pharmacological costs with the measure of efficacy represented by PFS, FOLFIRINOX is a cost-effective first-line for advanced pancreatic cancer.

Copyright © 2019 IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.