Comparison between the Swedish healthcare regions regarding the use of different cancer medications : - breast cancer, colorectal cancer and gastric cancer

• Main Author: Bety, Santa
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för farmaci 2020
• Subjects: Social and Clinical Pharmacy; Samhällsfarmaci och klinisk farmaci
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-439964

INTRODUCTION: Gastrointestinal cancers are one of the most fatal malignancies worldwide in both genders and all ages while breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women internationally. Angiogenesis inhibitors and epidermal growth factor inhibitors are mainly used in colorectal and gastric cancer, while cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors are mainly used in the treatment of breast cancer. However, studies of cost-effectiveness are needed to assess whether the high prices for these drugs can be justified with better outcomes and to what extent the total expenditure is acceptable for the health care system. Regional comparisons are important for future advancement within the field.   PURPOSE: The aim with this study was to describe whether there were any differences regarding the use of selected cancer drugs in Sweden’s six healthcare regions from 2005 to 2020.   METHOD: This research was a descriptive-comparative study. The aggregate-level data used in this paper was provided by the Swedish eHealth Agency and included the measurement total sales cost per 100,000 inhabitants of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors for both outpatient care as well as inpatient care. The angiogenesis inhibitors and epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors were solely used in inpatient care. All data included both genders and all ages.   RESULTS: The majority of the cancer drugs studied in this paper had an uneven use and major differences were noted between the regions as regards the consumption of specifically bevacizumab and palbociclib in all the healthcare regions. Notable was the uptake of bevacizumab with approximately a four-fold difference between the southeast healthcare region and the west healthcare region in the year 2020. Palbociclib demonstrated circa seven-fold difference in uptake in the year 2020 between the west healthcare region and the north healthcare region.    CONCLUSION: Broadly, we can conclude that there are regional differences in the use of angiogenesis inhibitors and epidermal growth factor inhibitors in the treatment of colorectal cancer and gastric cancer. Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors also demonstrate regional differences in the treatment of breast cancer in Sweden’s six healthcare regions. It is of interest to further study why the regional differences exist in Sweden.