Denosumab, a bone-modifying agent for cancer treatment, is being overused and costing Medicare more than $43 million each year, a recent Memorial Sloan Kettering study found.
The study, published in JCO Oncology Practice, used SEER-Medicare data from 2011 to 2015 to measure the frequency and number of doses of denosumab and zoledronic acid — another BMA — received in patients treated for castration-sensitive prostate cancer.
Researchers found that 42% of patients received at least one dose of denosumab and 18% received at least one dose of zoledronic acid during the median of 387 days of treatment. Of those receiving one of the drugs, 47% of zoledronic acid receivers and 38% of denosumab receivers had a history of osteoporosis, osteopenia, spine or hip fracture or hypercalcemia.
The combined estimated annual excess cost of both bone-modifying agents to Medicare was more than $44 million each year, including drug costs and adverse event costs. The extra costs could be reduced by "greater adherence to guideline-concordant BMA use," the study authors wrote.