Health Economics & Outcome Research, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, One Health Plaza, East Hanover, New Jersey 07936-1080, USA.
Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2013 Sep;7(3):278-83. doi: 10.1097/SPC.0b013e328362e8e3.
Bone is the third common organ affected by metastases, and about 70% of patients with breast cancer or prostate cancer will develop bone metastases. External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is a mainstay of treatment for patients with bone metastases. However, the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of EBRT in patients with bone metastases have not been adequately understood. The current work aims at reviewing recent cost-effectiveness literature of EBRT on patients with bone metastases.
Studies have consistently shown that EBRT is associated with significant pain relief, and existing cost-effectiveness studies have suggested that single fraction radiation therapy is more cost effective than multiple fraction radiation therapy in pain palliation. However, due to the high dependence of the data among these studies and the absence of significant amount of information, the current findings may require supports from further research in validating the results.
This work sheds the light on future economic models in applying individual preference to survey questionnaires, such as, contingent valuation/conjoint choice, to carefully measure utility improvements from a treatment. In addition, research with focus on patient-centered outcome is encouraged to help clinician better understand patients' perceived outcomes of EBRT.
骨骼是第三个常见的转移器官，约 70%的乳腺癌或前列腺癌患者会发生骨转移。外束放射治疗（EBRT）是治疗骨转移患者的主要方法。然而，EBRT 对骨转移患者的疗效和成本效益尚未得到充分了解。目前的工作旨在回顾 EBRT 治疗骨转移患者的最新成本效益文献。
研究一致表明，EBRT 可显著缓解疼痛，现有的成本效益研究表明，单次放射治疗在缓解疼痛方面比多次放射治疗更具成本效益。然而，由于这些研究中的数据高度依赖，并且缺乏大量信息，因此目前的研究结果可能需要进一步研究来验证。
这项工作为未来的经济模型提供了启示，即在应用个体偏好于调查问卷时，如条件价值/联合选择，以仔细衡量治疗带来的效用改善。此外，鼓励关注以患者为中心的结果的研究，以帮助临床医生更好地了解患者对 EBRT 的感知结果。
