Cost-effectiveness analysis of additional docetaxel for metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer treated with androgen-deprivation therapy from a Chinese perspective.

The E3805 (CHAARTED) study found that docetaxel combined with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) significantly improved overall survival of patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. This study aims to determine whether docetaxel combined with ADT is a cost-effective strategy for advanced prostate cancer in China. According to the E3805 study, two groups (docetaxel + ADT and ADT alone) and three health states [progression-free survival (PFS), progressive disease (PD) and death] were analysed in a Markov model. All medical costs were calculated from the Chinese societal perspective. Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were applied as the primary outcome. Overall, the addition of docetaxel was estimated to increase the cost by $12 816.93, with a gain of 0.48 QALY. Additionally, for patients with high-volume disease, the increased cost and effectiveness were $14 627.75 and 0.69 QALYs in docetaxel + ADT group versus the ADT alone group, and the ICER was $21 199.63 per QALY. These ICERs are far more than the commonly accepted willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $20 301 per QALY in China. In spite of longer survival time, docetaxel combined with ADT is not a recommended cost-effective treatment for metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer in the Chinese setting.