Literature Search Details

Literature Search Details

Literature Search Details

A literature search, involving Pubmed electronic database and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,was conducted on December 1, 2015to identify allCEA / CUApublished up to search date (i.e. December 1, 2015), which examinedgranulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) prophylaxis forFN prevention in early-stages non-metastatic breast cancer. The search was built around the “population intervention comparison outcome” framework.

The keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) were defined for each concept used in the search, and they included the following: ((((((economic*[tw] or pharmacoeconomic*[tw] or price*[tw] or pricing[tw])) OR ((cost[tw] OR costs[tiab] OR "costs and cost analysis"[mh] OR ec[sh] OR costs[tw] OR cost effective[tw] OR economic[tw])))) AND (((("breast neoplasms"[MeSH Terms] OR ("breast"[tw] AND neoplasm*[tw]) OR "breast neoplasms"[All Fields] OR ("breast"[tw] AND cancer*[tw]) OR "breast cancer"[tw]))) AND ((((("granulocyte colony-stimulating factor"[MeSH Terms] OR "granulocyte colony-stimulating factor"[All Fields] OR "g csf"[All Fields])))) OR ("Filgrastim" [Supplementary Concept] OR Neupogen[tw] OR Filgrastim[tw] OR pegFilgrastim[tw]))))).

In addition, references from all studies identified by search above were hand searched to identify potentially overlooked studies (backward search).

No search of the grey literature, including conferences abstracts, was conducted.

Economic evaluations of G-CSF prophylaxis (filgrastimor pegfilgrastim) forFNprevention that met all the following eligibility criteria were included; i) CEA / CUA studies, ii) adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, iii) PP vs.SP G-CSF strategies, IV) outcomes reported in incremental costs per LY or QALY gained.

Studies were excluded as follows;i) review articles and commentaries, ii) economic evaluations other than CEA / CUA, iii)publications ina language other than English, iv) mixed populations involving various cancers if outcomes not reported separately for breast cancer, v) G-CSF strategies involved different backbone chemotherapy regimens, vi)G-CSF prophylaxis was intended for bone marrow or peripheral-blood stem-cell transplantation, and vii) baseline FN rate examined was not stated/defined.

The selected studies were reviewed to extract and/or compute all relevant data pertinent to study methods, including key input parameters of G-CSF benefit (i.e. improved quality of life, lower FN-related costs, reduced FN mortality, and improved breast cancer survival), and cost-utility outcomes. All relevant data were extracted and/or computed by two authors (T.Y. and S.J.) with discrepancies resolved by consensus.

An updated, and more comprehensive, search on June 23rd 2016 using the same search terms above identified a total of 582 citationsinvolving PubMed (n=116), Embase (n=439), CINHL (n=22) and Web of Sciences (n=193). However, this comprehensive search did not identify any other studies that met the pre defined inclusion / exclusion criteria than those identified through PubMed search alone.