Economic evaluation of stereotactic radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery technologies in the treatment of cancers: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

This systematic review study investigated the cost-effectiveness of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for treatment of various types of cancers.

METHODS

PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched from 30/12/1990 to 1/1/2023. The entered studies were screened in accordance with the inclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria encompassed all types of economic evaluation studies that investigated SRT/SRS technologies in the treatment of various cancers.

RESULTS

A total of 47 articles were included in the review. The findings suggest that the use of Linear accelerator technology for the treatment of lung cancer (8 out of 12 studies) and prostate cancer (4 out of 5 studies) was a cost-effective strategy. Linear accelerator was found to be cost-effective in the treatment of liver metastases and liver cancer (2 out of 5 studies). All of the included studies that used Gamma Knife technology in brain metastases reported Gamma-Knife was a cost-effective treatment. Furthermore, in the treatment of prostate and liver cancer, proton therapy was identified as a cost-effective option than other treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms that SRT/SRS is a cost-effective procedure for the treatment of various types of cancers. Therefore, it is recommended to use SRT/SRS technology for optimal use of resources.

Cost-Effectiveness of Atrial Fibrillation Screening Strategies: A Systematic Review

Background

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. AF is associated with an increased risk of stroke. We aimed to review systematically the cost-effectiveness of screening strategies for patients with AF.

Methods

To find related research and articles, articles published in Iranian and international databases by using a combination of MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms and based on inclusion and exclusion criteria were searched and reviewed until Dec 2020. The main outcome measures of the final articles were incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) per gained or additional quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), additional case detected, and avoided stroke.

Results

Out of 3,360 studies found, finally, fifteen studies were included in the research. The lowest ICER numerical value was 78.39 for AF screening using ECG for 65-85 yr old Japanese women. The highest value of this index is equal to 70864.31 for performing ECG monitoring for more than 60 d for Canadians over 80 yr without AF history. In two studies, the results were expressed with the years of life gained (YLG measure. Of course, in one study, the results were not reported with this measure, and in one study, the results were reported with ICER.

Conclusion

Most of the studies acknowledged the cost-effectiveness of different AF screening strategies. However, studies that confirmed the cost-effectiveness of population-based screening were more than studies that confirmed the cost-effectiveness of other screening strategies.

Economic Burden of Epidermolysis Bullosa Disease in Iran

Background: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is prevalent in Iran and incurs direct and indirect costs on the health care system and the patient. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the economic burden of this disease in Iran.

Methods: This study includes all patients with EB disease who had been referred to the medical centers of Iran in 2019-2020 for treatment of their disease, especially Hazrat Fatimah Hospital and their medical records are available in Iran EB Patients Association (IEBPA). In estimating the economic burden of diseases and costing studies, we calculated the average direct and indirect costs for a patient and used it to estimate the costs of the patient population. In this study, a prevalence approach was used to calculate the economic burden of this disease. For this purpose, the existing cases of the disease in 2019-2020 were calculated. The data collected from the questionnaires that were completed through interviews with patients as well as the data extracted from the review of their files were entered into Excel software and analyzed.

Results: The total direct medical costs of direct non-medical and indirect are equal to 7.319.428.315 & 5.390.440.775 and 45.875.654.514 Rials respectively, and the total economic burden of the disease and the average of each patient is 58.585.514.604 and 155.890.789 respectively.

Conclusion: High indirect costs, especially informal care, represent the socio-economic burden of this disease and constitute more than half of the total indirect costs. Therefore, the obvious gap and hidden social costs of this disease are related to health policymakers, especially when they want to study the impact of this disease on different income classes of families.

Composite core set construction and diversity analysis of Iranian walnut germplasm using molecular markers and phenotypic traits

Iran is a center of origin and diversity for walnuts (Juglans regia L.) with very good potential for breeding purposes. The rich germplasm available, creates an opportunity for study and selection of the diverse walnut genotypes. In this study, the population structure of 104 Persian walnut accessions was assessed using AFLP markers in combination with phenotypic variability of 17 and 18 qualitative and quantitative traits respetively. The primers E-TG/M-CAG, with high values of number of polymorphic bands, polymorphic information content, marker index and Shannon’s diversity index, were the most effective in detecting genetic variation within the walnut germplasm. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated 93.98% of the genetic variability was between individuals, while 6.32% of variation was among populations. A relatively new technique, an advanced maximization strategy with a heuristic approach, was deployed to develop the core collection. Initially, three independent core collections (CC1–CC3) were created using phenotypic data and molecular markers. The three core collections (CC1–CC3) were then merged to generate a composite core collection (CC4). The mean difference percentage, variance difference percentage, variable rate of coefficient of variance percentage, coincidence rate of range percentage, Shannon’s diversity index, and Nei’s gene diversity were employed for comparative analysis. The CC4 with 46 accessions represented the complete range of phenotypic and genetic variability. This study is the first report describing development of a core collection in walnut using molecular marker data in combination with phenotypic values. The construction of core collection could facilitate the work for identification of genetic determinants of trait variability and aid effective utilization of diversity caused by outcrossing, in walnut breeding programs.

Ni@M (M = Pt, Pd and Ru) core@shell nanoparticles on a Vulcan XC-72R support with superior catalytic activity toward borohydride oxidation: electrochemical and fuel cell studies

Ni@Pd/C has excellent catalytic activity and power density for borohydride oxidation in comparison with Ni@Pt/C and Ni@Ru/C.