Cost-effectiveness comparison of dalpiciclib and abemaciclib combined with an aromatase inhibitor as first-line treatment for HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer.

OBJECTIVES

CDK4/6 inhibitors dalpiciclib and abemaciclib have been approved by the Chinese National Medical Products Administration as first-line treatment for postmenopausal females with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC). We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of dalpiciclib plus letrozole/anastrozole (non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor [NSAI]) compared with abemaciclib plus NSAI as a first-line treatment for HR+/HER2- ABC in China.

METHODS

We constructed a Markov model with three health states to evaluate health and economic outcomes of first-line treatment with dalpiciclib plus NSAI and abemaciclib plus NSAI for HR+/HER2- ABC. Efficacy data was obtained from MONARCH3 and DAWNA-2 trials. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated.

RESULTS

Compared with abemaciclib plus NSAI, dalpiciclib plus NSAI resulted in 4.27 additional QALYs, with an ICER of $14827.4/QALY. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of 3 times gross domestic product per capita in China for 2023 ($37721.5/QALY), the cost-effectiveness probability of dalpiciclib plus NSAI was 77.42%.

CONCLUSIONS

From the perspective of Chinese payers, dalpiciclib plus NSAI appears to be a cost-effective strategy compared with abemaciclib plus NSAI for the first-line treatment of patients with HR+/HER2- ABC in China.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

MONARCH3, www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier is NCT02246621 and DAWNA-2, www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier is NCT03966898.