Characteristics, Healthcare Utilization, and Costs of Medicare Patients Receiving CAR T-Cell Therapy

Karl M. Kilgore, PhD, senior research scientist, Avalere Health, discusses real-world data regarding Medicare patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma receiving CAR T-cell therapy.

In the analysis, investigators compared healthcare utilization, costs, and outcomes pre- and post-treatment with either axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) or tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah). Patients included in the analysis had an average age of 70 years, which is significantly older than the patients enrolled in the pivotal trials, notes Kilgore. Notably, 43% of patients had ≥1 comorbidity that would have rendered them ineligible for participation in these clinical trials.

Even so, investigators found a significantly lower hospital stay rate following treatment with CAR T-cell therapy. Moreover, the number of emergency department visits was reduced by 30%, and the total healthcare costs, excluding the cost of CAR T-cell therapy, was reduced by approximately 37%. Taken collectively, these results suggest that older patients with multiple comorbidities can be treated successfully with CAR T-cell therapy, concludes Kilgore.