Impact of early-stage immunotherapy on health and work productivity in the Czech Republic, 2024–2033

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the health and productivity impact of expanding the use of inhibitors of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or its ligand (PD-L1), referred to as anti-PD-(L)1 agents, to early-stage cancer treatment in the Czech Republic.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A four-state Markov-based model compared the use of anti-PD-(L)1 agents for early-stage disease (ESD) treatment of melanoma (stage IIB-C and III), renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) versus the established use of anti-PD-(L)1 agents only for metastatic disease in the Czech Republic from 2024-2033. Outcomes included recurrence-/event-/disease-free life-years (LYs), total LYs, quality-adjusted LYs (QALYs), productive work years, events/recurrences, metastatic disease treatments, and deaths.

RESULTS Of 16,410 eligible patients, 13,745 initiated ESD treatment with anti-PD-(L)1 agents. ESD treatment was estimated to increase recurrence-/event-/disease-free LYs (+10.6%), QALYs (+4.1%), and productive years for both patients (+22.1%) and caregivers (+21.0%), while decreasing events/recurrences (-22.2%), metastatic treatments (-17.6%), and total deaths (-23.2%).

CONCLUSIONS Expanding the use of anti-PD-(L)1 agents for early-stage cancer treatment in the Czech Republic is expected to reduce events/recurrences and metastatic treatments while also extending survival, quality-of-life, and productive work years, supporting the clinical and societal value of earlier use of innovative immunotherapies.