Abstract

Objectives

The concept of precision oncology using genetic testing has become popular for cancer treatment in recent years. This research aimed to evaluate the financial impact of comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer before receiving any systemic treatments, compared with current practice using single-gene testing, in the hope that the findings can inform the National Health Insurance Administration the decision regarding CGP reimbursement.

Methods

A budget impact analysis model was developed comparing the sum of gene testing costs, the first-line and subsequent systemic treatment costs, and other medical costs between the current practice of traditional molecular testing and the new test strategy of CGP. The evaluation time horizon is 5 years from the perspective of the National Health Insurance Administration. Outcome endpoints were incremental budget impact and life-year gained.

Results

This research indicated CGP reimbursement would benefit 1072 to 1318 more patients receiving target therapies than the current practice and consequently had incremental 232 to 1844 life-years gained from 2022 to 2026. The new test strategy also led to higher gene testing cost and systemic treatment cost. Nevertheless, less medical resource utilization and better patient outcome were demonstrated. The incremental budget impact ranged from US dollar 19 to US dollar 27 million in the 5-year period.

Conclusion

This research shows that CGP could pave the way for personalized healthcare with moderate increase of National Health Insurance budget.