Abstract

Objectives

Radical prostatectomy (RP) is the gold standard for the surgical treatment of localized prostate cancer, presenting better results than radiotherapy especially for high-risk patients. Although it has clinical and technical benefits compared with open and laparoscopic techniques, the robotic-assisted RP is not publicly funded in Brazil. The objective of this study was to calculate the cost-effectiveness of the robotic-assisted RP from the Brazilian public system perspective.

Methods

A state transition model was built to simulate the life of a patient undergoing RP. A total of 3 arms were compared: robotic-assisted, laparoscopic, and open surgeries. The assumed time horizon was 20 years; discounts were applied to both costs and health outcomes. Events and transition probabilities were obtained in the literature, and costs were obtained in official government databases. The results were reported as incremental cost-utility ratios.

Results

Robotic-assisted surgery was found to be costlier but more effective than both open and laparoscopic techniques, resulting in Brazilian reals 4518 per quality-adjusted life-year and Brazilian reals 3631 per quality-adjusted life-year incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, respectively.

Conclusions

This study gives relevant inputs for decision making regarding the inclusion of robotic-assisted RP in the Brazilian public formularies. The study demonstrates that the technology is cost-effective even when considering willingness-to-pay thresholds lower than the traditionally used ones.