Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2019

Quality of evidence and clinical benefit of cancer medicines evaluated for funding in Australia   (#358)

Agnes I Vitry 1
  1. School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Spoth Australia, Australia

This study aimed to determine the quality of evidence and clinical benefit of cancer medicines that have been examined by the Pharmaceutical Benefit Advisory Committee (PBAC) for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Data were retrieved from the PBAC outcomes and Public Summary Documents available online. Between 2010 and 2018, 145 cancer indications for 79 cancer medicines were examined by the PBAC. There were 96 (66%) indications for solid tumours (including 8 for breast cancer, 12 for melanoma, 20 for lung cancer, 8 for prostate cancer, 10 for colorectal cancer) and 49 (34%) for haematological cancers. At the end of 2018, 105 (72%) indications were accepted for funding and 37 (26%) applications were rejected. The presentation will describe the type of evidence (direct or indirect comparative trials, the type of outcomes (PFS, OS, other) and the overall benefit using the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale Version 1.1. Preliminary results for breast cancer and melanoma indicate that 15 of the 20 (75%) indications were recommended for funding. Evidence on gain in overall survival was available in 10 (50%) of the indications, data were not mature in 7 (35%) applications (OS not reached) and not available in 3 (15%) indications. When available, the mean gain in overall survival was 7.1 months (SD 5.9) and 5.5 months (SD 2.6) for breast cancer and melanoma respectively. ESMO scores were available for 13 indications and ranged between 2 and 5 (score 4 in more than half of the cases). Further results will be presented at the conference.