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Costs of relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma among Medicare patients

Abstract While health care costs can be considerable in individuals with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the degree to which health care expenditures vary following first-line treatment for non-relapsed versus relapsed DLBCL is unknown. Using 100% Medicare claims, we identified beneficiaries with DLBCL treated with first-line therapy between 1 January 2010 and 30 June 2014. We then compared health care expenditures of patients who received a second-line immunochemotherapy (relapse cohort) to those who did not begin a second-line therapy during follow-up (non-relapse cohort). After propensity score matching, the relapsed cohort incurred significantly higher health care costs ($6998 vs $3314 per month; p < .001), driven by inpatient ($2548 vs $1943 per month; p < .001) and outpatient office visit costs ($3581 vs $753 per month; p < .001). Our analysis confirms older adults with relapsed DLBCL incur higher medical costs and suggests improved first-line treatment would not only reduce the likelihood of relapse, but also contain health care costs.