Healthcare resource utilization and economic burden of metastatic pancreatic cancer: a US commercial and Medicare claims analysis

AIM: To assess healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs among patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adult US patients with an mPC diagnosis based on index date 1 January 2020-31 December 2022 were identified in the Merative MarketScan database. All-cause healthcare visits and costs (USD) were estimated per-person-per-month (PPPM) for 1 year post-index period. First-line (1L) treatments (≤90 days post-index) were categorized as FOLFIRINOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan, oxaliplatin)-based, gemcitabine+paclitaxel-based, other, or none. RESULTS: Claims from 2318 patients with mPC were included: 68.6% (1589/2318) with commercial and 31.4% (729/2318) with Medicare. Mean total costs PPPM were $34,215 with commercial and $15,158 with Medicare. A total of 25.7% (409/1589) of commercially insured patients and 43.2% (315/729) of Medicare-insured patients did not receive 1L treatment. Median (interquartile range) cumulative length of stay was 0.8 days (0.1-2.4) with commercial insurance and 0.7 days (0.0-2.4) with Medicare. All-cause PPPM costs were higher for patients without 1L treatment than with 1L treatment in both insurance types, primarily driven by inpatient and outpatient visits. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with mPC experienced high economic burden, mostly attributable to inpatient and outpatient costs. The high rate of patients with mPC not receiving 1L treatment merits further exploration.