Overall treatment costs for cancer patients with clostridium difficile infection, based on a decision tree analysis, are lower with fidaxomicin compared to current standard of care, vancomycin, resulting in a potential cost saving of approximately $7,000 per patient.
Patients who have received chemotherapy and those with solid tumors can be particularly susceptible to CDI due to their long hospital stays and exposure to many antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents. These patients are also prone to recurrent episodes of CDI. Hospital patients with CDI are up to three times more likely to die in hospital (or within a month of infection) than those without CDI.
CDI results from infection of the internal lining of the colon by C. difficile bacteria. Patients typically develop CDI after the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics that disrupt normal bowel flora, allowing C. difficile bacteria to flourish.
This pharmacoeconomic model combined data from a study exploring the resolution of CDI in cancer patients treated with either fidaxomicin or vancomcyin and a recent cost-of-illness analysis on CDI conducted at the University Hospital of Cologne.
The analysis explored direct cost parameters including drug costs, treatment on the general ward and intensive care unit as well as microbiological diagnostics for clostridium difficile.
Mean overall treatment costs per patient treated with fidaxomicin and vancomycin were approximately $28,000 and $35,000, respectively. The lower costs were primarily due to the significantly lower rate of recurrence in patients treated with fidaxomicin.
Data were presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
“Patients with cancer represent a vulnerable population who are at high risk of CDI, often resulting from their compromised immune system. CDI can be a devastating addition for patients who are already battling pre-existing conditions,” said lead investigator Sebastian Heimann, a health economist at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.
“We have already seen the superior reductions in CDI recurrence with fidaxomicin so we are pleased to see it also clearly demonstrating cost effectiveness.”
