Advanced cutaneous malignant melanoma: A systematic review of economic and quality-of-life studies

Objective: Metastatic melanoma (MM), a major concern for health-care providers, is increasing. We systematically reviewed published articles describing the impact of interventions (drugs and screening) on quality of life (QoL) in patients with MM, and articles that measured QoL in MM. Methods: We searched secondary databases including MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane, and DARE from inception to 2006 using MESH terms "melanoma" and "metastases." Economic articles were subject to established quality assessment procedures. Results: We found 13 QoL and five economic studies (three cost-effectiveness, two cost-utility; average quality = 83% +/- 7%). No strong evidence was found in this review for cost-effectiveness of interferons in Canada (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio [ICER] = $55,090/quality-adjusted life-year) or temozolomide in the United States (ICER =$36,990/Life-year gained based on nonsignificant efficacy differences). Melanoma screening was not cost-effective in the United States ($150,000-931,000/life-saved) or Germany (no survival benefit). From the 13 QoL studies,eight measured baseline QoL; six studied the same population, generating similar results using different approaches/outcomes. Tools used included GLQ-8, QLQ-C30, QLQ-36, QWB-SA, and SF-36. Baseline scores QoL scores ranged from 0.60 to 0.69. Another five studies (N = 959 patients) were randomized trials analyzing QoL in patients treated with dacarbazine alone, dacarbazine +/- interferon, dacarbazine + fotemustine, interleukin +/- histamine, and temozolomide. Little difference was found in QoL scores between drugs or between baseline and end point. Conslusions: Cost-effectiveness has not been widely demonstrated for treatment of MM. Only two studies with unimpressive results exist for treatments. Screening was not cost-effective in the United States or Germany. Generally, no significant improvements in QoL were found for any alternative for treating MM. A need exists for effective treatments that improve duration and QoL

Q-TWiST analysis of ixabepilone in combination with capecitabine on quality of life in patients with metastatic breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Combination therapy with ixabepilone and capecitabine (cape) is approved for use in patients with locally advanced/metastatic breast cancer that is resistant to treatment with anthracyclines or taxanes. The current study evaluated the trade-off between quality and quantity of life using quality-adjusted time without symptoms or toxicity (Q-TWiST) outcomes. METHODS: Within the trial, 752 women were randomly assigned to receive either the combination of ixabepilone and cape (once every 21 days) or cape alone (on days 1- 14). The area under the survival curve was partitioned into 3 health states: toxicity (TOX), time without symptoms of disease progression or toxicity, and recurrence (relapse [REL]). The mean time in each health state was weighted by a range of utilities and summed to estimate quality-adjusted survival (QAS). Patient-reported outcomes were also evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT)-Breast Symptom Index (FBSI). RESULTS: A statistically significant difference between groups with regard to change from baseline FBSI scores favoring the cape group was observed (P.0002), but no differences were observed after adjusting for deaths in the analysis. All combinations of utilities for REL and TOX resulted in an observed difference in QAS favoring combination therapy. Differences were found to be statistically significant for comparisons, with higher tolerance for TOX. QAS was found to be greater for the combination therapy group (42.2 weeks vs 38.4 weeks), assuming the base case scenario of utility equal to 0.5 for both TOX and REL (P=.0227). CONCLUSIONS: The Q-TWiST analysis supports a positive benefit-risk ratio for the combination of ixabepilone plus cape in patients with advanced/metastatic breast cancer that is refractory to anthracyclines and taxanes versus cape alone, despite the potential for added toxicities with combination therapy. Cancer 2012; 118: 461-8. (C) 2011 American Cancer Societ