GE Healthcare is highlighting results of three health economic models that estimate potential cost offsets to the healthcare system of biomarker testing in patients with early breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer, and renal cell carcinoma to guide therapy selection, the company said.
The studies were presented at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) meeting in Berlin.
The first study focused on identifying subgroups in whom such antiangiogenesis therapies may be of value and examined the cost consequences of introducing an angiogenesis-specific biomarker imaging test (A-IT) to guide the continuation or removal of antiangiogenesis drugs; the study found a per-patient cost savings of 4,561 pounds (5,712 euros) when A-IT was used to identify treatment response.
A second study evaluated the economic impact of utilizing an angiogenesis-specific imaging biomarker to identify disease progression versus Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) monitoring among sunitinib-treated renal cell carcinoma patients, and found that using the biomarker resulted in per-patient cost savings of 683 pounds (855 euros) per patient, GE said.
Finally, a third study examined the potential impact of better targeting the use of taxane therapies in early breast cancer by estimating the potential cost impact of a predictive test for taxane response; applying an in-vitro biomarker led to an average cost savings of 1,398 pounds (1,750 euros) per patient, according to the firm.
