Pilot Study to Assess the Prevalence of Advanced Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Identified Using German Claims Data

Speaker(s)

Beckert U1, Borchert K2, Seidel K2, Harrow B3, Pars M4, Bauer S5
1Deciphera Pharmaceuticals (Germany) GmbH, München, Germany, 2Xcenda GmbH, Hannover, NI, Germany, 3Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, LLC, Burlington, MA, USA, 4Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, LLC, München, Germany, 5Universitaetsklinikum Essen, Essen, Germany

Presentation Documents

OBJECTIVES:

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common sarcoma but very limited data on GIST epidemiology is available for Germany, especially for advanced disease stages. GIST incidence is estimated being 1.2-1.5 per 100,000 individuals per year in Europe. The preferred initial treatment option for localized GIST is surgery. Advanced GIST (metastatic and non-resectable) are primarily treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) imatinib, sunitinib, regorafenib, and ripretinib (available in Germany as of 2022) which are approved in that sequence. This pilot study was conducted to gain insights into the prevalence and treatment patterns of advanced GIST in Germany.

METHODS:

A retrospective claims data analysis was conducted using the Institute for Applied Health Research (InGef) research database containing anonymized German healthcare claims of 4 million individuals. In absence of a specific ICD-10-GM code, GIST was identified by different ICD-10-GM codes for gastrointestinal malignancies based on suggestions from treatment guidelines and German medical experts. Advanced GIST was defined by prescriptions with TKIs approved for GIST treatment. Patients with other approved indications of the studied medications were excluded.

RESULTS:

In the database, 180 patients with advanced GIST based on a diagnosis and at least one prescription of an approved TKI could be identified in 2020. Patients were on average 66.5 years old (SD=13.8) and 50.6% were male. Between 2015-2020, 17 adult patients with advanced GIST received at least three lines of TKI therapy: imatinib, sunitinib, and regorafenib.

CONCLUSIONS:

Although the identification of GIST patients is challenging due to lack of an ICD-10-GM code, this pilot study allowed a first estimate on the prevalence of advanced GIST in Germany. These results are comparable to previous European estimates and could be used to extrapolate to the entire German population. As true for other rare cancer types, sarcoma-specific ICD-10-GM codes would greatly facilitate epidemiological and healthcare research in GIST.

Code

EPH162

Topic

Epidemiology & Public Health, Study Approaches

Topic Subcategory

Disease Classification & Coding

Disease

SDC: Rare & Orphan Diseases