Adverse events create substantial healthcare costs in hepatocellular carcinoma

Key clinical point: A total of 84% of HCC patients had at least one emergency department visit within 12 months of therapy.

Major finding: Patients with HCC experienced an average of 3.2 adverse events over a median of 9 months; the most common was pain (75%), followed by infection (39%). Infection was the most costly adverse event ($50,374), and up to 90% of costs were associated with inpatient admissions.

Study details: The data come from 322 adults with HCC who had 12 months of follow-up data available after treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) monotherapy; immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) monotherapy; or FOLFOX combination therapy.

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Disclosures: The study was supported by AstraZeneca and some coauthors are AstraZeneca employees. Lead author Dr. Lal had no financial conflicts to disclose.

Source: Lal LS et al. Cancer Rep. 2021 Sep 7. doi: 10.1002/cnr2.1504.