Atezolizumab vs durvalumab for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer in Japan: a real-world comparative analysis of costs and clinical outcomes.
One immunotherapy drug worked as well as another for advanced lung cancer but cost less, caused fewer side effects, and reduced severe lung inflammation in Japanese patients.
In ES-SCLC, atezolizumab had similar OS (13.9 vs 14.8 months, P=0.92) but significantly lower monthly costs (JPY 1.0M vs 1.6M, P<0.001), fewer grade>=2 irAEs (11% vs 31%, P=0.009), and less ILD (3% vs 20%, P=0.004) compared to durvalumab in 128 PSM-matched Japanese patients. This record was retained from the prior triage attempt for PubMed pipeline handoff.
What the study was
- Study design
- multicenter_retrospective_cohort
- Category
- novel_therapeutics
- Maturity
- Validated
- Journal
- Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology
Why it surfaced
First direct real-world cost-effectiveness and safety comparison of two approved PD-L1 inhibitors in ES-SCLC; ILD rate of 20% vs 3% is clinically actionable; multicenter design with PSM improves validity; directly relevant to T6 novel therapeutics watchlist.
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