Cost and effectiveness of microwave ablation versus video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical resection for ground-glass nodule lung adenocarcinoma

Xiaoying Han; Zhigang Wei; Zhenxing Zhao; Xia Yang; Xin Ye

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.962630

Cost and effectiveness of microwave ablation versus video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical resection for ground-glass nodule lung adenocarcinoma

Front Oncol. 2022 Oct 5:12:962630. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.962630. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiaoying Han¹, Zhigang Wei^{2

3}, Zhenxing Zhao⁴, Xia Yang¹, Xin Ye²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.
² Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Key Laboratory of Rheumatic Disease and Translational Medicine, Shandong Lung Cancer Institute, Jinan, China.
³ Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
⁴ Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.

Abstract

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the cost and effectiveness in consecutive patients with ground-glass nodules (GGNs) treated with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS; i.e., wedge resection or segmentectomy) or microwave ablation (MWA).

Materials and methods: From May 2017 to April 2019, 204 patients who met our study inclusion criteria were treated with VATS (n = 103) and MWA (n = 101). We calculated the rate of 3-year overall survival (OS), local progression-free survival (LPFS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS), as well as the cost during hospitalization and the length of hospital stay.

Results: The rates of 3-year OS, LPFS, and CSS were 100%, 98.9%, and 100%, respectively, in the VATS group and 100%, 100% (p = 0.423), and 100%, respectively, in the MWA group. The median cost of VATS vs. MWA was RMB 54,314.36 vs. RMB 21,464.98 (p < 0.001). The length of hospital stay in the VATS vs. MWA group was 10.0 vs. 6.0 d (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: MWA had similar rates of 3-year OS, LPFS, and CSS for patients with GGNs and a dramatically lower cost and shorter hospital stay compared with VATS. Based on efficacy and cost, MWA provides an alternative treatment option for patients with GGNs.

Keywords: cost effectiveness; ground-glass nodule; lung adenocarcinoma; microwave ablation; video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.