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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Health Economics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1421826
This article is part of the Research Topic Hospital Management and Healthcare Policy: Financing, Resourcing and Accessibility, Volume II View all 7 articles

Toripalimab Plus Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Zhiwei Zheng Zhiwei Zheng 1Lisheng Huang Lisheng Huang 1Hongfu Cai Hongfu Cai 2*
  • 1 Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
  • 2 Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This study focuses on assessing the cost-effectiveness of incorporating toripalimab alongside chemotherapy for the treatment of patients diagnosed with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system. Methods: A partitioned survival model was constructed to simulate the costs and health outcomes over the lifetime of patients with mTNBC. Clinical data regarding overall survival, progression-free survival, and treatment-related adverse events were derived from the TORCHLIGHT clinical trials. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were calculated based on the gains in quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). The willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold was defined as $39,855.79 per QALY. Additionally, sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the robustness of the model. Results: The total cost incurred by the group receiving toripalimab was $38,040.62,while the placebo plus chemotherapy was $26,102.07.The utilization of the toripalimab regimen resulted in an increase of 0.74 QALYs and an incremental cost of $11,938.55 compared to the placebo plus chemotherapy group. The ICER was $16133.18/QALY, indicating that toripalimab plus chemotherapy is a cost-effective strategy according to the WTP threshold. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the results. Conclusion: This study suggests that the addition of toripalimab to chemotherapy for the treatment of mTNBC is a cost-effective strategy. The findings provide valuable evidence to guide decision-making regarding treatment selection for patients with mTNBC in China.

    Keywords: metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, Toripalimab, chemotherapy, cost-effectiveness analysis, partitioned survival model

    Received: 23 Apr 2024; Accepted: 16 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zheng, Huang and Cai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hongfu Cai, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, Fujian Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.