Re: Gleevac versus oleander

The real cost of Gleevec in the treatment of Patients with Advanced CML...........

They used a computer model which took into account 5 years of treatment from the start of treatment. They estimated that a patient in accelerated phase would “accrue an additional 2.09 QALYs with Gleevec compared to conventional therapies, while patients in blast crisis will accrue an additional 0.58 QALYs”. They also report that this improvement comes with a price, approximately **$40,000** per additional QALY more than conventional treatment for patients in accelerated phase.
For patients in blast phase, the cost was almost **$60,000** more per additional QALY.

Researchers Comments: These estimates of the cost of Gleevec® treatment are probably in line with the costs in the US for treating similar patients and underscore the expensive nature of this therapy.
**Obviously the most important economic saving would be to improve the up-front cure rate of patients with CML and not have to rely on expensive palliative therapy**.
http://professional.cancerconsultants.com/oncology_leukemia_news.aspx?id=29438


Gleevec versus Oleander?
No contest, either in price or efficacy.

Chrisb1.

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