Inter- and intra-country variations in the use of trastuzumab in Norway, Spain and Sweden

1069 Background: Breast cancer mortality is similar in Norway, Spain and Sweden (14–16/100,000 Age Standardized Rate). There are only small regional differences in incidence and mortality within the countries. Trastuzumab (T) was approved for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in Norway, Spain and Sweden in second half of year 2000. T represents a unique new treatment for MBC that delays disease progression and improves survival. HER2 over expression (H+) is used to identify patients eligible for trastuzumab treatment (T). Methods: This study use sales data from IMS Health and incidence and mortality data from regional and national cancer registries as well as data from International Agency for Research on Cancer. We examines the variation in the use of T in different health care regions of Norway (4 regions), Spain (19 regions) and Sweden (6 regions) as well as differences in use between the countries. These results were also put into a global comparison. Results: There are marked differences in both the rat...