Published May 17, 2013

High Wycombe, UK - Improvements in ovarian cancer survival rates have been modest with a median survival after recurrence of just two years. Patients with disease relapsing more than six months after completion of a platinum chemotherapy regimen are said to have platinum-sensitive disease, where a host of platinum and non-platinum alternatives are considered. Final survival results have become available for trabectedin plus PLDH in the treatment of relapsed platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. A study, “Cost-Effectiveness of Trabectedin Plus Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin for the Treatment of Women with Relapsed Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer in the UK: Analysis Based on the Final Survival Data of the OVA-301 Trial,” published in Value in Health, is the first study to estimate the costs and QALYs of treatment based on the final survival data, and is therefore critical to inform accurate estimations of cost-effectiveness. Survival analysis showed that adjusting for imbalances in prognostic factors including the time between platinum regimen initiation and relapse (also known as the platinum-free interval) significantly improved goodness-of-fit when estimating average patient survival time. Results from the decision analytic model improved survival with trabectedin plus PLDH compared to PLDH alone, and an ICER of £38,026 per QALY. This could significantly impact cost-effectiveness conclusions in the UK for patients who are not expected to benefit from treatment with platinum-based therapies. Mark Fisher, MSc, Health Economics Manager at WG Consulting and lead author of the study, states, "The final analysis estimated a significant improvement in survival and cost-effectiveness outcomes compared to that originally calculated based on an interim analysis of immature survival data."

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