Treatment patterns, clinical and economic outcomes of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small cell lung cancer receiving ceritinib: a retrospective observational claims analysis.

To describe patient characteristics, treatment patterns, healthcare resource utilization (HRU), and costs among patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase ()-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving ceritinib in second or later line of therapy. Adult patients with NSCLC receiving ceritinib were identified from two large US claims databases (2006-2015). Patient characteristics, comorbidity profile, treatment patterns prior to ceritinib, and ceritinib dosing patterns were described. All-cause, HRU, and costs incurred during the observation period after ceritinib initiation were reported per patient per six months. One hundred sixty-four patients were included (mean age 54.2 years, 57.3% female); the majority had metastatic disease (94.5%) and the average Charlson Comorbidity Index was 7.6. 150 (91.5%) patients received crizotinib prior to ceritinib - average crizotinib duration was 10.2 months and time between crizotinib discontinuation and ceritinib initiation was 2.1 months (median= 0; 25th-75th percentile= 0-0.8). Most patients (73.8%) initiated ceritinib on the recommended dose (750 mg) and maintained the dose until the end of the observation period (mean of 7.4 months) or ceritinib discontinuation; 61 (37.2%) patients discontinued ceritinib during the observation period. A total of 76 (46.3%) patients had at least one inpatient admission during the observation period after ceritinib initiation. Mean total healthcare cost per patient per six months was $111,468. Patients with ALK-positive NSCLC receiving ceritinib had a high comorbidity burden and generally started ceritinib on the recommended dose quickly after crizotinib discontinuation. Medical costs accounted for nearly a half of the total healthcare costs.