The First Retrospective Commercial Claims-Based Analysis of CAR T Treated Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma (R/R LBCL)

Introduction: Approximately 74,000 Americans are diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) each year, of whom 30% are identified as having LBCL. In recent years, two autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-Cell (CAR T) therapies were approved for the treatment of patients with R/R LBCL with ≥ 2 prior systemic therapies.

Objectives: To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of the CAR T patients and to compare healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs pre- and post-CAR T therapy.

Methods: This pre/post-index comparison evaluated in the Optum Research Database included adult (age ≥ 18 years) commercial and Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees, with medical benefits and evidence of medical/procedure codes indicative of CAR T therapy between 01/01/2017 and 03/31/2019. Patients must have been continuously enrolled in their commercial healthcare plan for at least 3 months prior to and 6 months after the infusion (index) unless death occurred. Patients with evidence of pre-index leukemia were excluded. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics included age, gender, insurance type, geographic region, and comorbidities. Measures of pre/post HCRU and standardized cost (scaled as per patient per month (PPPM) values to account for variable follow-up durations) included ambulatory visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and inpatient admissions (both Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and non-ICU visits). Information on the CAR T administration index visit and length of stay (LOS) for inpatient admissions were also captured. Data analysis (descriptive statistics) was conducted using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Version 9.4.

Results: 109 patients met all inclusion criteria. The patient mean age was 59.31 (SD = 12.60), 59% were male, 70% were commercially insured, 30% MA, and the mean Quan-Charlson Comorbidity score was 3.60.Thirty patients received CAR T administration through clinical trials. Seventeen percent received CAR T therapy in a Prospective Payment System (PPS) Exempt Cancer Hospital and 83% received treatment in Inpatient PPS hospitals. The CAR T therapy index event was administered inpatient for 82% of patients and twenty patients (18%) received CAR T in the outpatient setting. The median LOS during CAR T administration was 16 days which included 52% ICU admissions.

During the pre-index period, all patients experienced an ambulatory visit with an average of 15.09 visits PPPM, whereas 41% had an ED encounter for an average rate of 0.39 visits PPPM, and 44% had an inpatient stay with 0.28 PPPM. The total medical and pharmacy costs were $128K PPPM. With a median follow-up of 8.4 months, patients experienced 46% fewer ambulatory visits (average 8.14 PPPM, p-value < 0.001), 49% fewer ED visits (average 0.20 PPPM, p-value < 0.037), and 18% fewer inpatient visit rates (average 0.23 PPPM, p-value = 0.415) in the post index period (excluding the index event) than pre-index period. The mean total medical and pharmacy costs were also 49% lower at $66K PPPM (p-value < 0.008).

Conclusions:Post-CAR T care was associated with lower health care utilization including fewer ambulatory visits, and ED visits and lower overall total health care costs compared to pre-CAR T care.