The quality of economic studies of cancer pharmacogenomics: a quantitative appraisal of the evidence

Abstract

This study evaluated the quality of health economic studies of cancer pharmacogenomics (PGx). A systematic search of the literature for economic studies of PGx was conducted in four common cancers. Evaluation of study quality was carried out using the quality of health economic studies instrument. Thirty-nine articles met our eligibility criteria and were selected and accepted for further statistical analyses. The majority of articles (85%) were studies focusing on breast cancer. The overall weighted mean quality score was 85.10, with a range from 21 to 100. Eighty-seven percent of articles were categorized as good quality, whereas some 10 and 3% were categorized as moderate and poor quality, respectively. The quality of economic studies of cancer PGx is generally good but varied widely. We identified several attributes that are predictive of quality. Our findings may be useful for oncologists, health economists and decision makers interested in evaluating studies involving PGx.

Keywords::

• cancer
• cost–effectiveness analyses
• health economics
• pharmacogenomics
• quality of health economics scale

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Research conducted in AM Issa's research center, the Program in Personalized Medicine & Targeted Therapeutics^TM, is supported in part by In Health, the Institute for Health Technology Studies and NIH (1R01HG006145-01A1). The authors have no other 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 apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• • The objective of this study was to measure and evaluate the quality of health economic studies in pharmacogenomics (PGx) in patients with cancer.

• • A systematic search of the literature published between January 2000 and October 2010 for economic studies for PGx was conducted in four common cancers: breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer.

• • Evaluation of study quality was carried out using the quality of health economic studies instrument.

• • A total of 39 articles met our eligibility criteria and were selected and accepted for further statistical analyses.

• • The overall weighted mean quality score was 85 with a range from 21 to 100. Overall, the quality of the selected economic studies was high but varied widely.

• • Our analysis reveals that the methodological quality of economic studies of PGx-based diagnostics in cancer is generally good.

• • We have identified several attributes that are predictive of quality.

• • Health economic analyses evaluations are increasingly used for decisions by payers, formularies and others, and the findings of our study may be useful for oncologists, health economists, decision and policymakers in assessing economic studies of PGx applications.