ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the deadliest cancer among women worldwide including Indonesia. Both FAC and Taxane-based chemotherapies are often used for patients with early node-positive breast cancer. However, the study regarding the cost-effectiveness of those regiments is still rare. This study aims to analyze the cost-effectiveness of Taxane versus FAC in the Indonesia setting. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with stage I-IIIA breast cancer who had received surgery, FAC or Taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy, and radiation were included in this study. Health-related quality of life was assessed using INA-BCHRQoL. INA-BCHRQoL was mapped to the EuroQoL 5D (EQ-5D) index calculator to get the utility score. All direct cost was retrieved from electronic medical records and hospital information system. Whereas, a questionnaire was designed to collect information about society cost from patients. ICER was counted to summarize the cost-effectiveness of two chemotherapy regiments (Taxane versus FAC). A sensitivity analysis was done to assess the uncertainty result. RESULTS: The results showed there was no significant difference between the score of quality of life and utility in respondents who received FAC chemotherapy and Taxane-based chemotherapy. However, in terms of cost, Taxane was 6.5 times higher than the FAC group per patient for chemotherapy drugs only. Moreover, the total cost of treatments in Taxane-based chemotherapy was approximately 3.7 times more costly than the counterpart in the FAC arm (p=0.000). Taxane-based chemotherapy dominated with ICER IDR 765.213.092 per QALY gained. Overall, FAC was found more cost-effective compared to the Taxane regiment. CONCLUSION: FAC represents the value of money compared to Taxane-based for breast cancer patients with stage I-IIIA in Indonesia.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Female , Humans , Indonesia , Male , Quality of Life , Taxoids/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Introduction: The breast cancer related incidence and mortality rate in Indonesia are included in the top 10 and top 5 highest in the world. A country-specific Health Related Quality of Life measurement tool is required to help clinician observe and improve the management of the disease. Methods: We developed the questionnaire, namely Indonesian Breast Cancer Health Related Quality of Life (INA-BCHRQoL) by incorporating not only the generic variables such as physical, psychological, and social; but also spiritual variable which is suitable for Indonesian population. The questionnaire was validated to the same population using the value of corrected item-total correlation and the value of Cronbach Alpha. Results: Fourty three questions were considerably valid and reliable on evaluating the HRQoL of early state of breast cancer patients in Indonesia as the value of Cronbach Alpha for physical, cognitive, social and spiritual domain were higher than 0.8 and the corrected item-total correlation were also higher than 0.3. Each domain of the questionnaire was not influenced by the treatment options. Twenty four early stage breast cancer (10 FAC based chemotherapy and 14 Taxan based chemotherapy) were enrolled in the main study and the score of HRQOL obtained from INA-BCHRQoL were considerably high. Conclussion: The INA-BCHRQoL questionnaire can be implemented as a valid and reliable tool to assess quality of life in early stage breast cancer patients in Indonesia.
