Cost and effectiveness of reduced-intensity and conventional allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

Goals of work Allogeneic stem cell transplantation with a reduced-intensity regimen (RIST) has been evaluated mostly in terms of its clinical benefit, and the pharmacoeconomic aspects of this procedure remain unclear. We compared the cost and effectiveness of RIST with those of stem cell transplantation using a conventional myeloablative regimen (CST). Patients and methods Fifty consecutive patients who underwent transplantation for myeloid malignancy were included. Life years and medical costs during the entire treatment course for up to 2 years after transplantation were evaluated, and cost-effectiveness was assessed from the payer’s perspective. Main results Of these 50 cases, 35 were treated with CST and 15 were treated with RIST. The mean survival time was 1.5 years in CST and 1.2 years in RIST, while the mean total cost per patient within the first 2 years was $29,630 for CST and $29,466 for RIST, with no significant difference. The duration of total hospitalization was shorter in RIST than in CST; then, the cost for hospitalization represented a lower proportion of the total cost in RIST (49% of total cost) than in CST (63%). In contrast, the cost related to the conditioning regimen was significantly higher in RIST than in CST. Conclusions This result suggests that the increased cost of the conditioning regimen offsets the reduced cost of hospitalization in RIST. Although some differences were observed in the details of the cost, the total cost and mean survival were comparable between CST and RIST, and this result was confirmed by a probabilistic sensitivity analysis.