Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs in US Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treated with Intensive Induction Chemotherapy

INTRODUCTION:

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous hematologic malignancy. In the United States (US) in 2020, the incidence of AML was 4.3/100,000, with a death rate of ~2.8 per 100,000. Following diagnosis, for patients who are fit for high-dose therapy, standard of care consists of initial intensive remission-inducing chemotherapy followed by post-remission therapy comprising consolidation chemotherapy alone, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) alone, or consolidation chemotherapy followed by HSCT. Despite an initial response to treatment, most patients with AML progress, and relapse is common. Relapse in AML is associated with poor prognosis, substantial healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and a cost burden. Maintenance therapy with newer agents may delay relapse and prolong survival. Understanding HCRU and costs of newly diagnosed AML may inform clinicians, policy makers, and payers on the burden of AML and the potential clinical and economic benefits of novel therapies. This retrospective study describes HCRU and costs for patients with newly diagnosed AML receiving intensive induction chemotherapy in the US.

METHODS:

The Premier Healthcare Database was used to identify patients aged ≥18 years with an inpatient hospitalization or hospital-based outpatient visit (01/01/2016-03/31/2019), an AML diagnosis (ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes: C92.00, C92.40, C92.50, C92.60, C92.A0), who received CPX-351 or 7+3 treatments, and had ≤280 days from the end of first induction treatment to remission. Patients with prior AML diagnosis or those receiving other treatments were excluded. Index date was the admission date for the first hospitalization or the first hospital-based outpatient visit with an AML diagnosis. Patients were followed until death, relapse or last known follow-up, whichever was first. Unadjusted descriptive analyses were performed for patient demographics, baseline clinical characteristics, outpatient days, inpatient hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and costs.

RESULTS:

Overall, 642 patients who received induction chemotherapy for newly diagnosed AML were identified. Mean (median) patient age was 53.7 (56.0) years, and 53.1% of patients were male. Patients had commercial (47.2%), Medicare (26.8%), Medicaid (17.6%), or other (8.4%) insurance. Mean (SD) Charlson Comorbidity Index was 3.5 (2.2), and the most common comorbidities were diabetes (20.3%), chronic pulmonary disease (15.4%), and congestive heart failure (9.4%). Most frequent adverse events were pyrexia (47.2%), neutropenia (39.9%), sepsis (28.0%), pneumonia (24.3%), and fungal infection (17.9%). Median (interquartile range [IQR]) time from the end of first induction chemotherapy to remission was 58 (40-90) days. Median (IQR) time from remission to relapse was 274 (141-389) days. A total of 385 (60.0%) patients had outpatient service days at a Premier facility; median (IQR) number of outpatient service days per patient was 3 (1-6), outpatient hospital cost per visit was $1,083 ($481-$2,189), and total outpatient hospital cost was $2,904 ($1,054-$7,217). All patients had an inpatient hospitalization; median (IQR) number of inpatient hospitalizations per patient was 2 (2-3), length of stay (LOS) per inpatient hospitalization was 16 (13-21) days, cost per inpatient hospitalization was $34,558 ($25,419-$49,460), and total inpatient hospital cost was $83,440 ($63,067-$113,985). A total of 144 (22.4%) patients had an ICU admission; median (IQR) number of ICU admissions per patient was 1 (1-1), LOS per ICU admission was 3 (2-8) days, cost per ICU visit was $15,771 ($7,209-$27,564), and ICU cost was $16,550 ($7,368-$36,968).

CONCLUSIONS:

In the US, healthcare costs for patients with newly diagnosed AML who receive induction chemotherapy are considerable, primarily due to high HCRU and lengthy inpatient stays. Patient response to induction therapy and duration of remission may also contribute to HCRU and costs. More tolerable therapies that improve remission rate and duration, and/or reduce hospitalization rates, may alleviate the economic burden of AML.