AUTHOR=Yang Szu-Chun , Lin Chien-Chung , Chen Yi-Lin , Su Wu-Chou 

TITLE=Economic Analysis of Tissue-First, Plasma-First, and Complementary NGS Approaches for Treatment-Naïve Metastatic Lung Adenocarcinoma

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.873111

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2022.873111

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=Background: To compare the testing costs and testing turnaround times of tissue-first, plasma-first, and complementary next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches in patients with treatment-naïve metastatic lung adenocarcinoma.

Materials and methods: We developed a decision tree model to compare three different approaches. Patients were entered into the model upon cancer diagnosis and those with both insufficient tissue specimens and negative liquid-based NGS were subjected to tissue re-biopsy. Actionable gene alterations with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapies included epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement, ROS proto-oncogene 1 (ROS1) rearrangement, B-Raf proto-oncogene (BRAF) V600E mutation, rearranged during transfection (RET) gene rearrangement, mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) mutation, neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene rearrangement, K-Ras proto-oncogene (KRAS) G12C mutation, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) mutation. Model outcomes were testing costs, testing turnaround times, and monetary losses taking both costs and time into consideration. We presented base-case results using probabilistic analysis. Stacked one-way and three-way sensitivity analyses were also performed.

Results: In terms of testing costs (USD), tissue-first approach incurred 2354 (1963 to 2779) and was the most cost-efficient strategy. Complementary approach testing turnaround time (days) of 12.7 (10.8 to 14.9) was found as the least time-consuming strategy. Tissue-first, complementary, and plasma-first approaches resulted in monetary losses (USD) of 4745 (4010 to 5480), 6778 (5923 to 7600), and 7006 (6047 to 7964) respectively, and identified the same percentage of patients with appropriate FDA-approved therapies. Costs for liquid-based NGS, EGFR mutation rates, and quantity of tissue specimens were the major determinants in minimizing monetary loss. Plasma-first approach would be the preferable strategy if its testing price was reduced to US$818, US$1343, and US$1869 for populations with EGFR mutation rates of 30%, 45%, and 60% respectively.

Conclusion: Tissue-first approach is currently the best strategy in minimizing monetary loss. Complementary approach is an alternative for populations with a low EGFR mutation rate. Plasma-first approach becomes increasingly preferable as EGFR mutation rates gradually increase.