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Lenvatinib in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review of economic evaluations

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Abstract

Purpose

This aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of economic evaluations comparing lenvatinib to other vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors and other treatment options in the management of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC).

Methods

A comprehensive literature search was conducted using highly sensitive search syntax. The titles and abstracts of all records were studied and screened to identify eligible economic evaluations. To enable comparison across different countries, the results of economic evaluations make it possible to compare, the costs and ICER of all studies were converted into 2022 US dollars, and a 3% annual increase for inflation was applied. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) checklist. This study is conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement.

Results

Lenvatinib was found to be cost-effective (ICER = dominant) compared to most drugs in the included studies, except in studies where it was compared with donafenib or when the price of sorafenib was significantly discounted (e.g., with a 90% discount, the value of ICER was + 104,669 USD).

Conclusion

Lenvatinib was generally cost-effective in most studies, but not compared to donafenib or sorafenib (if the price sorafenib was significantly discounted).

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Data availability

There is no data availability statement that needed to be accessed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ghader Mohammadnezhad, Hesam Noqani, Parand Rostamian & Melika Sattarpour

  2. Health Management and Economics Research Center, Health Management Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Jalal Arabloo

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Contributions

G.M and J.A contributed to the study conception and design. Literature search and data analysis were performed by G.M, M.S, P.R, and H.N. The first draft of the manuscript was written by G.M, M.S, and H.N, and all authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jalal Arabloo.

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Mohammadnezhad, G., Noqani, H., Rostamian, P. et al. Lenvatinib in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review of economic evaluations. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 79, 885–895 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-023-03502-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-023-03502-7

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