Background: Gemcitabine is a novel nucleoside analogue with unique activity against a range of solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and pancreatic cancer.
Study design and methodology: This report reviews a series of retrospective economic evaluations that have taken place over the past 4 years comparing gemcitabine, both as a single agent and in combination therapy, with other treatment modalities for NSCLC in the following countries: United States, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Canada, and Italy. These economic evaluations were in the form of simple cost identification, cost minimization, and cost-effectiveness in order to estimate the economic impact of gemcitabine in NSCLC treatment compared with other treatment modalities.
Results and conclusions: The results of these retrospective economic evaluations suggest that gemcitabine as monotherapy or in a combination regimen may be cost saving or perhaps even cost effective. This is largely because the chemotherapy can be administered in an outpatient setting and because the side-effect and toxicity profile is lower. This economic advantage assumes equivalent efficacy of gemcitabine and other treatment modalities for treatment of NSCLC.