Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: While standard doses of adjuvant fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapies are generally safe for most patients, the risk of severe adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is increased for those with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency (DPYD), a genetic variation that affects drug metabolism. The objective of this study was to examine the cost effectiveness of offering DPYD pharmacogenetic-guided care, where genetic testing informs personalized dosing versus the current standard of care (SoC), which involves administering fluoropyrimidine-based therapies without prior genetic screening, for local or metastatic breast cancer patients in Qatar. METHODS: We developed a two-stage decision analysis, with an analytic tree model over a 6-month period, followed by a life-table Markov model over a lifetime horizon. We compared the current SoC with the alternate strategy of DPYD genetic screening in patients living in Qatar with local or metastatic breast cancer who were eligible for adjuvant fluoropyrimidine therapy. Clinical outcomes and utilities were obtained from published studies, while healthcare costs were estimated from Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar. The short-term outcome included the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), defined as cost per success (survival without grade III/IV ADRs) at 6 months. The long-term outcome was the ICER, defined as cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, with a 3% annual discount rate. The study adopted a public healthcare perspective in Qatar. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the impact of key input parameters on the robustness of the model. RESULTS: In the short-term model, at its base case, DPYD genomic screening was dominant over SoC with a mean cost-saving of QAR84,585 (95% confidence interval [CI], 45,270-151,657). This cost saving reflects the overall economic benefits associated with the implementation of DPYD genomic screening. In the long-term model, compared to the current SoC, DPYD genetic screening would result in an ICER of QAR21,107 (95% CI -59,382-145,664) per QALY gained. CONCLUSION: Based on our model, implementing DPYD genetic screening to detect DPYD mutations in breast cancer patients before therapy initiation seems to be a cost-saving and cost-effective strategy in Qatar.