Comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis of a urine metabolomics test vs. alternative colorectal cancer screening strategies.

PURPOSE: Despite the success of provincial screening programs, colorectal cancer (CRC) is still the third most common cancer in Canada and the second most common cause of cancer-related death. Fecal-based tests, such as fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and fecal immunochemical test (FIT), form the foundation of the provincial CRC screening programs in Canada. However, those tests have low sensitivity for CRC precursors, adenomatous polyps and have low adherence. This study evaluated the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a new urine metabolomic-based test (UMT) that detects adenomatous polyps and CRC. METHODS: A Markov model was designed using data from the literature and provincial healthcare databases for Canadian at average risk for CRC; calibration was performed against statistics data. Screening strategies included the following: FOBT every year, FIT every year, colonoscopy every 10 years, and UMT every year. The costs, quality adjusted life years (QALY) gained, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for each strategy were estimated and compared. RESULTS: Compared with no screening, a UMT strategy reduced CRC mortality by 49.9% and gained 0.15 life years per person at $42,325/life year gained in the base case analysis. FOBT reduced CRC mortality by 14.9% and gained 0.04 life years per person at $25,011/life year gained. FIT reduced CRC mortality by 35.8% and gained 0.11 life years per person at $25,500/life year while colonoscopy reduced CRC mortality by 24.7% and gained 0.08 life years per person at $50,875/life year. CONCLUSIONS: A UMT strategy might be a cost-effective strategy when used in programmatic CRC screening programs.

Health care resource use and costs in Crohn's disease before and after infliximab therapy.

BACKGROUND: Infliximab therapy in patients with Crohn's disease decreases resource use; however, the overall impact on health-related expenditures is unclear, especially beyond one year of study. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of economic data one and two years before and after infliximab therapy was performed using patients who served as their own controls. Total health care resource use and direct health care costs were compared for patients with or without fistulae. RESULTS: Patients with one (n=66) and two (n=39) years of economic data before and after infliximab treatment had their resource use and direct health care costs estimated. In the year following initiation of infliximab therapy, there were significant decreases in health care use, reflected in total hospital days (495 to 155 [P<0.05]), inpatient colonoscopies (46 to 24 [P<0.05]), outpatient colonoscopies (58 to 33 [P<0.05]) and major surgeries (10 to 2 [P<0.05]). Direct health care costs of inpatient costs for luminal (-$1,747 [P<0.05]) and fistulizing disease (-$2,530 [P<0.05]), major surgeries (-$1240 [P<0.05]) and outpatient colonoscopies (-$184 [P<0.05]) were also significantly reduced before and after infliximab therapy. Total direct health care costs, including the drug cost of infliximab, increased ($21,416 [P<0.05]). In general, the trends in health care costs analyzed over four consecutive years paralleled the two consecutive-year analysis.  CONCLUSION: Infliximab therapy in patients with Crohn's disease resulted in a significant decrease in both resource use and health care costs, but an increase in total direct health care costs once the cost of infliximab was added.

Ustekinumab and Vedolizumab Dual Biologic Therapy in the Treatment of Crohn's Disease.

We present a case of refractory ileocolonic Crohn's disease in a 27-year-old female treated with dual ustekinumab and vedolizumab biologic therapy. She had mucosal healing for the first time in 13 years after a 10-month treatment of ustekinumab overlapped with 6 months of vedolizumab. No side effects were observed during the 6 months of dual biologic therapy. Short-term dual biologic therapy may be considered as a treatment option for induction of remission in refractory cases of Crohn's disease.