ArticleFrontiers in oncology2021
Cost-Effectiveness of Adjuvant Immunotherapy With Cytokine-Induced Killer Cell for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on a Randomized Controlled Trial and Real-World Data.
Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- 2022 KLCA-NCC Korea practice guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2022Guideline
- Do trial benefits predict real-world gains in metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2025Article
- Advancing Adjuvant Immunotherapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Comprehensive Review.ImmunoTargets and therapy · 2025Review
- Advances in immunotherapy for hepatitis B virus associated hepatocellular carcinoma patients.World journal of hepatology · 2024Review
- Immune landscape and immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma: focus on innate and adaptive immune cells.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2023Review
- 2022 KLCA-NCC Korea practice guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma.Journal of liver cancer · 2023Review
- 2022 KLCA-NCC Korea Practice Guidelines for the Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Korean journal of radiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStudies using data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and real-world data (RWD) have suggested that adjuvant cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell immunotherapy after curative treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prolongs recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). However, the cost-effectiveness of CIK cell immunotherapy as an adjuvant therapy for HCC compared to no adjuvant therapy is uncertain.
methodsWe constructed a partitioned survival model to compare the expected costs, life-year (LY), and quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of a hypothetical population of 10,000 patients between CIK cell immunotherapy and no adjuvant therapy groups. Patients with HCC aged 55 years who underwent a potentially curative treatment were simulated with the model over a 20-year time horizon, from a healthcare system perspective. To model the effectiveness, we used OS and RFS data from RCTs and RWD. We estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) and performed extensive sensitivity analyses.
resultsBased on the RCT data, the CIK cell immunotherapy incrementally incurred a cost of $61,813, 2.07 LYs, and 1.87 QALYs per patient compared to no adjuvant therapy, and the estimated ICER was $33,077/QALY. Being less than the willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000/QALY, CIK cell immunotherapy was cost-effective. Using the RWD, the ICER was estimated as $25,107/QALY, which is lower than that obtained using RCT. The time horizon and cost of productivity loss were the most influential factors on the ICER.
conclusionWe showed that receiving adjuvant CIK cell immunotherapy was more cost-effective than no adjuvant therapy in patients with HCC who underwent a potentially curative treatment, attributed to prolonged survival, reduced recurrence of HCC, and better prognosis of recurrence. Receiving CIK cell immunotherapy may be more cost-effective in real-world clinical practice.
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