Taking ACTION to establish direct costs and outcomes of treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer in routine clinical practice

We have been following with interest the increasing trend to offer chemotherapy to patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the literature in support of this strategy. There is no doubt that active treatment can offer a significant survival benefit compared with standard palliative care, and this has been known for a decade [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The advent of new generation cytotoxics with a superior therapeutic index, such as gemcitabine, has brought the added promise of better palliation of symptoms and improved quality of life (QoL) [ 4 , 5 ]. However, these observations, and the relatively higher acquisition costs of the newer drugs, have alerted many health care providers and decision makers to the possibility of higher treatment costs. Their legitimate concerns amid the growing economic constraints inherent in today’s health care environment have sparked a flurry of pharmacoeconomic analyses looking to establish the true costs of therapy.