The 12-week stopping rule for pegylated
interferon implemented by Hong Kong was the most cost-effective
treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus who were positive
for hepatitis B e antigen, according to data from a recent study.
Researchers used Markov modeling and data from PubMed of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients, aged 35-years, who were positive for hepatitis B e antigen
(HBeAg) and patients, aged 40 years, who were negative for HBeAg to
determine the cost-effectiveness of stopping 12-week treatment with pegylated interferon
(PEG-IFN). The researchers compared the following treatments: PEG-IFN
with 12-week stopping rule; PEG-IFN with conventional 48-week treatment;
entecavir
monotherapy; tenofovir monotherapy; telbivudine monotherapy;
telbivudine roadmap with tenofovir switch therapy; and no treatment.
Stopping treatment after 12 weeks was the best
option for HBeAg-positive patients because it had the lowest
cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) of $9,501 per quality-adjusted life-year
(QALY), compared with no treatment or treatment for 48 weeks (CER,
$9,664 per QALY). Entecavir was the lowest CER (lifetime cost, $70,028)
compared with no treatment, if PEG-IFN was not an option.
Read more.... Labels: HBeAg positive, pegylated interferon, treatment costs