Cost–effectiveness of afatinib and erlotinib as second-line treatments for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung

AIM:To investigate the cost-effectiveness of afatinib and erlotinib as second-line therapy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. MATERIALS & METHODS:A decision-analytic model was developed for projecting the economic outcomes. Clinical parameters and utilities were from the LUX-Lung 8 trial. Costs were mainly estimated from the Chinese health system. The outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. RESULTS:The afatinib strategy generated additional 0.154 quality-adjusted life-years compared with erlotinib, with incremental costs of ¥16,852. Relative to erlotinib, afatinib resulted in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of ¥109,429 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. The overall survival time of afatinib had a considerable impact on the model outcomes. CONCLUSION:Afatinib is a cost-effective treatment option compared with erlotinib in patients with squamous cell carcinoma.