Aims: To examine the characteristics of patients with newly-diagnosed Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), analyze their treatment patterns and comorbidities after diagnosis, and evaluate the economic burden on the MCC patient population in the US.
Materials and methods: This observational, non-interventional cohort study identified patients with MCC that were newly-diagnosed between January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2014, and whose data were either in the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters (CCAE) or Medicare Supplemental and Coordination of Benefits databases. Standard descriptive statistics were used to describe patient demographics, clinical characteristics, treatment regimens, and healthcare resource use (HRU) and cost.
Results: Following MCC diagnosis, most patients in the study population (n = 2,177) received only surgery (34.5%) or surgery and radiotherapy without chemotherapy (22.0%), while 14.5% of patients received none of these treatments; 27.5% of patients received at least one line of chemotherapy as part of their treatment. Mean total healthcare costs per patient per year (PPPY), as well as mean inpatient, outpatient, and pharmacy costs, were significantly greater for patients who received chemotherapy compared with those who received other or no treatments. Higher HRU and mean costs were associated with increasing patient comorbidity burden, ranging from $62,401 PPPY in Deyo Charlson Comorbidity Index level 1 to $109,690 in level ≥3.
Limitations: The study used claims databases that were limited to patients who are covered by large employer-sponsored insurance and/or Medicare and did not provide information regarding the rationale for treatment choice or resource use.
Conclusions: The choice of treatment is a major factor in determining healthcare costs associated with MCC, with the highest costs in patients receiving chemotherapy. Patients with MCC often exhibit comorbidities, and both HRU and healthcare costs increase significantly with each comorbidity level.
Keywords: MarketScan; Merkel cell carcinoma; chemotherapy; claims database; comorbidities; healthcare resource use; line of treatment.