Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Aug 2006
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyThe cost-effectiveness issue of adjuvant trastuzumab in early breast cancer.
Trastuzumab has shown activity in patients with early breast cancer that overexpresses HER-2, and this drug has been employed in the adjuvant setting. Significant resources have been allocated to finance this new therapy. ⋯ This survey focuses on studies exploring adjuvant trastuzumab therapy in early-stage breast cancer that have been published since 2003, which report on efficacy, benefit and/or cost data in this setting. The paper summarises the results, focuses on the level of evidence of these studies, compares the calculated cost-effectiveness ratios and makes recommendations for future cost-effectiveness analyses.
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Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common leukaemia in the Western world. Historically, CLL patients have received prednisone- or chlorambucil-containing regimens, resulting in modest responses and a slim chance of long-term survival. ⋯ Single-agent fludarabine therapy has expanded into a combination regimen containing cyclophosphamide and has further evolved to incorporate monoclonal antibodies. A review of the fludarabine literature shows that these advancements in fludarabine-containing therapy have enhanced the overall patient response with a potential increase in survival time, thus representing progress towards a superior treatment for CLL.