Cost-effectiveness analysis of positron-emission tomography-computed tomography in preoperative staging for nonsmall-cell lung cancer with resected monometastatic disease

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was, from the Chinese healthcare perspective, to assess the cost-effectiveness of positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) in preoperation staging for nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with resected monometastatic disease based on a retrospective study. This study was conducted from January 2017 to February 2019 at an academic hospital. METHODS: A Markov model and 3 decision-tree models were designed to calculate the long-term medical costs, outcomes, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of the 2 diagnostic strategies (PET-CT and conventional CT). Model robustness was assessed in sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: For the base–case analysis, preoperative PET-CT evaluation for NSCLC with resected monometastatic disease provided an additional 1.475, 2.129, and 2.412 life-years (LYs), in the time horizon of 10-, 20-, and 30-year, respectively, and the ICERs for the PET-CT group compared with the conventional CT group were $1153, $1393, and $1430 per LY, separately. The acceptability curves demonstrated that when the willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds ranged from $500 to $3000/LY, the probability of cost-effectiveness changed varied dramatically, and at WTP > $3000, the probability that the PET-CT group achieved cost-effectiveness was 100%. Sensitivity analyses suggested that the models we designed were robust. CONCLUSION: Compared with conventional CT scan, preoperative (18)F-FDG PET-CT evaluation for patients with resected monometastatic NSCLC is cost-effective from the Chinese healthcare perspective. Preoperative (18)F-FDG PET-CT evaluation should be popularized for patients with resected monometastatic NSCLC.