Cost-effectiveness of New Targeted Agents in the Treatment of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common adult leukemia and is clinically heterogeneous. Integration of oral targeted therapies (OTTs) in the management of CLL has fundamentally altered CLL treatment pathways and improved outcomes for patients with CLL.We review the cost-effectiveness of OTTs in the treatment of CLL. We used MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) terms and keywords to search the National Library of Medicine online MEDLINE database (PubMed) for articles related to cost-effectiveness of OTTs in CLL care.Oral targeted therapies add considerable expense to the treatment of CLL for patients and the health care system. Cost-effectiveness analyses of OTTs are not uniform in their conclusions and depend on patient groups selected for analysis. Given the substantial increase in expense associated with integration of OTTs in CLL treatment, cost reduction methods are needed to ensure equitable access to novel therapies for all patients with CLL.