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Is There a Need for a Value Scale for Non-Systemic Oncology Treatment?

28 February 2019

The Lancet Oncology has recently published the results of the European Cancer Organisation's value based healthcare project.

 

‘Towards an evidence-informed value scale for surgical and radiation oncology: a multi-stakeholder perspective’ examines the approaches of organisations such as ESMO, ASCO and NCCN for assessing value in the domain of systemic oncology treatment, with a view to potential application of similar principles to non-systemic oncology treatment.

Findings showed that:

  • the value frameworks developed by ESMO, ASCO and NCCN are not immediately transferable to locoregional cancer treatments;
  • the existence of an initial benchmarking of the value of new drugs by regulatory agencies who grant or do not grant market authorization has greatly facilitated the development of value scales for systemic anticancer treatments. A similar assessment should be developed for locoregional cancer therapies, such as surgery and radiotherapy;
  • such a mechanism, ideally in the form of a practical tool or scale, should include evidence from real-world (ie, data from patients treated in daily practice) and clinical trials and include the whole spectrum of patient-centred endpoints;
  • this type of scale could help optimise patient access to high-value developments in surgery and radiotherapy, ultimately raise the evidence bar for new innovations introduced into clinical practice, and ensure that investment in research and development provides the opportunity for substantial improvement in cancer care.

Professor Yolande Lievens, Past-President of ESTRO and lead author of the paper, stated:

“Bringing together radiation oncologists, oncology surgeons, patients, biostatisticians and researchers to conduct this multi-stakeholder assessment was an intensive but rewarding endeavor. Under the European Cancer Organisation's umbrella, we were united in our desire to ensure that what truly represents ‘value’ in cancer care is better recognised and understood, regardless of treatment domain. The findings and recommendations of our paper plot a way forward in this direction and I’m looking forward to continuing this work on value scales that capture the benefits of cancer treatment, across disciplines. This should be set in a multidisciplinary framework as we consider the engagement of all stakeholders is necessary for improvement in cancer care.”

Access the paper here.