OBJECTIVES

: Incidence of recurrent and/or metastatic (R/M) squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) amounts to 5,000 patients yearly in France. Our objective was to assess resource use and costs (all payers’ perspective) in French R/M SCCHN patients.

METHODS

: All patients with a diagnosis of SCCHN with a first R/M between Jan 2009 and Dec 2014 were selected from EGB (Echantillon Généraliste des Bénéficiaires), a random representative sample (1/97th) of the French national healthcare system claims database. Data were analyzed from the index date (first chemotherapy) until patients’ death or Dec 2015 (minimum follow-up of 12 months). Costs included hospitalizations for SCCHN, outpatient care, patients’ out of pocket expenses and indirect cost (daily allowances for sick leaves and disability pensions). We estimated the mean cost per patient over the follow-up period. Using the annual cost per patient, we assessed the economic burden at the nationwide.

RESULTS

: Among the 267 patients identified, 85% were men, 44% had distant metastases at the index date and mean age was 62.0 years (±9.9). Median overall survival was 9.3 months. Over a mean follow-up of 17.3 months, mean cost per patient was €48,069 breakdown into €31,136 [95%CI: 27,935–34,336] for hospitalizations and €16,933 [14,866–19,000] for outpatient care. Cost drivers in outpatient care were drugs and medical devices (€8,822 per patient), health care professional fees (€4,742) and transportation (€2,689). Out of pocket for patients represented €805 on average. Only 12% and 11% of patients received refunding for sick leaves and disability pensions accounting for €1,506 [839–2,173] and €1,322 [590–2,054] per patients. The mean annual cost was €33,236 per patient, corresponding to around €166 million per year in France.

CONCLUSIONS

: These results show a substantial economic burden of R/M SCCHN in France. These real-world data will be useful for future economic evaluation of new therapies under development in this indication.