Retrospective cohort study of biomarker-specific survival and medication costs for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Targeted therapies and immunotherapies prolong survival but are associated with high costs for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC). A cohort study investigated biomarker-specific surival and medication costs for aNSCLC patients. In this study using data from 26,635 patients, the median overall survival was 39.9 months for ALK rearrangement, 27.0 months for EGFR variation, 18.7 months for BRAF variation, and 12 to 16 months for 3 PD-L1 expression groups. Medication cost per 1-year or 2-year survival for patients without driver alterations was consistently higher than for those with driver alterations. The authors conclude that developing more affordable and effective medications for patients without driver alterations is needed.