A retrospective analysis of the cost effectiveness of treatment with Metastron (89Sr-chloride) in patients with prostate cancer metastatic to bone.

The objectives of the study were to estimate the cost of medical care for patients recruited into the Trans Canada trial of Metastron (89Sr-chloride) as adjunct therapy in patients with prostate cancer metastatic to bone and to compare the costs of those receiving Metastron with those receiving placebo. Data from case report forms, hospital records and, where necessary, telephone follow-up were used. Twenty-nine patients, recruited into the trial at the Cross Cancer Institute, were followed from time of entry into the trial over the balance of their lifetime. Data were costed by reference to fee schedule, pharmacy and government and hospital defined costs as indirect (investigations, outpatient visits and total and tertiary hospital inpatient days) and direct (analgesics, hormones, radiotherapy and transfusions). Meaningful differences in analgesic, hormone and radiotherapy costs were seen between the two groups, with the group receiving Metastron showing a lifetime reduction of Can $1720 per person when compared with placebo. A reduction of Can $5696 per patient in the Metastron group was shown based upon requirements for admission for tertiary care; however, if total hospital stay costs are calculated there is no difference between the two groups. This retrospective study suggests that treatment with Metastron can bring about meaningful reductions in lifetime management costs in patients with advanced prostate cancer. These findings should be correlated with the significant improvement in quality of life reported in the Trans Canada study and appear to offer financial support to the clinical rationale for the use of Metastron in the palliative treatment of these patients.

A retrospective analysis of the cost effectiveness of treatment with Metastron in patients with prostate cancer metastatic to bone.

A retrospective study was performed on the cost-effectiveness of treatment for advanced prostate cancer metastatic to bone. Patients (n = 29) recruited into the trans Canada trial at the Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton and randomized to treatment with Metastron (strontium-89 chloride) (n = 14) or placebo (n = 15) after local field irradiation therapy for pain palliation were studied over their entire survival time. Estimates were made of the direct costs of treatment, i.e. drugs (analgesics and hormonal agents) and external radiotherapy, and the indirect costs (investigations, outpatient visits and inpatient days, either total or for tertiary care) based on records from the referring hospital, the cancer clinic and any hospitals to which the patients may subsequently have been referred. Meaningful differences were apparent between the two groups in direct costs with the group receiving Metastron showing a reduction over the entire survival time of Can$ 1,720/person compared with placebo; it should be noted that in this analysis neither the costs of the Metastron, nor of the initial radiotherapy, have been included. The Metastron group also showed a reduction in costs of hospitalization for tertiary care of Can$ 5,696/person, though the total cost of hospitalization was similar in the two groups. These results suggest that treatment with Metastron can bring about reductions in management costs for patients with advanced prostate cancer and, coupled with the findings of the Trans Canada trial on the improvement in quality of life for patients given Metastron, they add financial support to the clinical rationale for the use of Metastron for the palliative treatment of patients with bone metastases resulting from prostate cancer.