Cost-utility analysis of IEV drug regimen versus ESHAP drug regimen for the patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Iran

Background: Chemotherapy for lymph nodes cancer is often composed of several drugs that are used in a treatment program

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Objectives: The aim of this study was to perform a cost-utility analysis of IEV regimen [ifosfamide, epirubicin and etoposide] versus ESHAP regimen [etoposide, methylprednisolone, high-dose cytarabine, and cisplatin] in patients with lymphoma in the south of Iran

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Patients and Methods: This was a cost-utility analysis done as a cross-sectional study in the south of Iran. Using decision tree, expected costs, quality -adjusted life years [QALYs] and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio [ICER] were estimated. In addition, the robustness of results was examined by sensitivity analysis

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Results: The results of this study indicated that the total lymphoma patients were about 65 people that 27 patients received IEV regimen and 38 patients ESHAP [43 patients with Hodgkin's and 22 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma]. The results of decision tree showed that in the IEV arm, the expected cost was dollar 20952.93 and the expected QALYs was 3.89 and in the ESHAP arm, the expected cost was dollar 31691.74 and the expected QALYs was 3.86. Based on the results of the study, IEV regimen was cost-effective alternative to the ESHAP regimen

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Conclusions: According to the results of this study, it is recommended that oncologists use IEV instead of ESHAP in the treatment of patients with lymphoma and because of high costs of IEV drug costs, it is suggested that IEV drugs should be covered by insurance