High quality evidence supports the use of combination chemoradiation using either carboplatin and paclitaxel (CROSS regimen) or cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (PF) in the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Despite high quality data regarding oncological outcomes, evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of each approach is lacking. The present study aimed to evaluate the treatment burden and cost-effectiveness of both regimes, in a cohort of 232 patients treated in Taiwan, in terms of hospital encounters, adverse events, total costs, overall and progression-free survival. The authors found that the CROSS regimen was associated with reduced inpatient days, fewer admissions and adverse events, but increased chemoradiation costs. Despite this, the CROSS regimen remained cost effective as compared with PF in terms of progression-free and overall survival.
Read the full article from Gao and colleagues here.