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Economics of Cancer Pharmacogenetics

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Pharmacogenetics: Making cancer treatment safer and more effective
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Abstract

The budget for health care service provision is finite and under increasing pressure in part due to technological innovation in healthcare. Newer treatments in oncology are often more expensive than current treatment options and in some cases require additional resources such as molecular tumour testing to determine eligibility or imaging to monitor disease progression and continued eligibility. This chapter describes some key economic concepts that can be applied to help decision-makers make difficult decisions about which treatments or tests are the best use of healthcare resources. Four methods of economic evaluation are described, briefly. A more detailed description of how to conduct and interpret a cost-effectiveness analysis is then presented using the example of adding CYP2D6 testing to inform prescribing decisions for tamoxifen. The current level of published economic evidence in oncology pharmacogenetics is briefly described. The chapter concludes by mentioning some other economic methods that may prove useful in the field of oncology pharmacogenetics.

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Correspondence to Katherine Payne .

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Payne, K. (2010). Economics of Cancer Pharmacogenetics. In: Newman, W. (eds) Pharmacogenetics: Making cancer treatment safer and more effective. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8618-1_12

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