OBJECTIVES:

Drug costs account for approximately 20% of the total cost of cancer care in the United States. High drug costs add to the economic burden to the health care system. The study aimed to systematically assess the cost-effectiveness evidence of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors in the treatment of HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer from a US societal/payer’s perspective.

METHODS:

A literature search was conducted on PubMed. Two independent reviewers:

1) screened title/abstract and assessed full text to determine whether studies met inclusion criteria; 2) used Drummond checklist to rate the quality of the studies; and 3) extracted key information from the identified studies.

RESULTS:

201 records were identified from PubMed through keywords searching. After screening by title/abstract and full report assessment, 10 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. Among the 10 studies, 3 articles found CDK 4/6 inhibitors to be cost-effective in the treatment of HR+/HER2- breast cancer from a US societal/payer’s perspective. The remaining 7 articles found it not to be a cost-effective option with CDK 4/6 inhibitor drug costs being the main cost driver.

CONCLUSIONS:

CDK 4/6 Inhibitors remain novel in the treatment of HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer. This study systematically reviewed cost-effectiveness evidence of this class of medication and provide insight on the value associated with the medications. Key healthcare stakeholders such as the payers and managed care organization can benefit from such evidence during formulary management and price negotiations with pharmaceutical manufacturers.