Cost-effectiveness of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy versus Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Markov Modeling Study

Radiology. 2017 May;283(2):460-468. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2016161509. Epub 2017 Jan 3.

Abstract

Purpose To assess the cost-effectiveness of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) versus radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for patients with inoperable localized hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are eligible for both SBRT and RFA. Materials and Methods A decision-analytic Markov model was developed for patients with inoperable, localized HCC who were eligible for both RFA and SBRT to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the following treatment strategies: (a) SBRT as initial treatment followed by SBRT for local progression (SBRT-SBRT), (b) RFA followed by RFA for local progression (RFA-RFA), (c) SBRT followed by RFA for local progression (SBRT-RFA), and (d) RFA followed by SBRT for local progression (RFA-SBRT). Probabilities of disease progression, treatment characteristics, and mortality were derived from published studies. Outcomes included health benefits expressed as discounted quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), costs in U.S. dollars, and cost-effectiveness expressed as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the robustness of the findings. Results In the base case, SBRT-SBRT yielded the most QALYs (1.565) and cost $197 557. RFA-SBRT yielded 1.558 QALYs and cost $193 288. SBRT-SBRT was not cost-effective, at $558 679 per QALY gained relative to RFA-SBRT. RFA-SBRT was the preferred strategy, because RFA-RFA and SBRT-RFA were less effective and more costly. In all evaluated scenarios, SBRT was preferred as salvage therapy for local progression after RFA. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100 000 per QALY gained, RFA-SBRT was preferred in 65.8% of simulations. Conclusion SBRT for initial treatment of localized, inoperable HCC is not cost-effective. However, SBRT is the preferred salvage therapy for local progression after RFA. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

MeSH terms

  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / economics*
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / mortality*
  • Catheter Ablation / economics*
  • Catheter Ablation / mortality
  • Catheter Ablation / statistics & numerical data
  • Computer Simulation
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis / economics
  • Health Care Costs / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Liver Neoplasms / economics*
  • Liver Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Markov Chains
  • Models, Economic
  • Postoperative Complications / economics
  • Postoperative Complications / mortality
  • Prevalence
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Radiation Injuries / economics
  • Radiation Injuries / mortality
  • Radiosurgery / economics*
  • Radiosurgery / mortality
  • Radiosurgery / statistics & numerical data
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Assessment / methods
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Survival Rate
  • United States / epidemiology