Looking for Her (2+): A systematic review of the economic evaluations of Trastuzumab in early stage HER 2 positive breast cancer

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Breast cancer, the second most common cancer in women, exerts a multidimensional grave effect on affected women. Among the several subtypes of breast cancer, the overexpression of the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 gene is associated with poorer survival and higher relapse rates. Trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody, has proved its safety and efficacy in this specific subtype, nevertheless its high cost urges for caution among payers.

Areas covered: The scope of this study is to systematically search and critically assess the economic evaluation studies of trastuzumab in patients with early stage Her2+ breast cancer.

Expert commentary: In the majority of the studies, trastuzumab was found to be cost-effective. Its cost-effectiveness profile is contingent to treatment duration, benefit effect, and age of the patient.

KEYWORDS:

• Trastuzumab
• breast cancer
• oncology
• human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
• systemic review of economic evaluations

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.