Treatments and costs for recurrent and/or metastatic XXXX of the @entity135 in the Netherlands.

@entity1 @entity135 @entity137 @entity416 @entity5 @entity957 @entity1499 @entity902 @entity1487
For @entity1 with recurrent and/or metastatic @entity957 of the @entity135 (R/M SCCHN), chemotherapy can prolong life and alleviate symptoms. However, expected gains may be small, not necessarily outweighing considerable @entity137 and high costs. Treatment choice is to a large extent dependent on preferences of doctors and @entity1 and data on these choices are scarce. The purpose of this study is to obtain real-world information on palliative systemic treatment and costs of R/M SCCHN in the Netherlands. In six Dutch @entity135 treatment centers, data were collected on @entity1 and @entity5 characteristics, treatment patterns, disease progression, survival, adverse events, and resource use for R/M SCCHN, between 2006 and 2013. 125 (14 %) out of 893 R/M SCCHN @entity1 received palliative, non-trial first-line systemic treatment, mainly @entity902 + @entity1487 + cetuximab (32 %), other @entity902 -based combination therapy (13 %), @entity1499 monotherapy (27 %) and @entity416 monotherapy (14 %). Median progression-free survival and overall survival were 3.4 and 6.0 months, respectively. 34 (27 %) @entity1 experienced severe adverse events. Mean total hospital costs ranged from     10,075 (       9,891) ( @entity1499 monotherapy) to     39,459 (       21,149) ( @entity902 + @entity1487 + cetuximab). Primary cost drivers were hospital stays and anticancer drug treatments. Major health care utilization and costs are involved in systemically treating R/M SCCHN @entity1 with a limited survival.
