The relationship between LHRH-agonist depot formulations and frequency of follow-up with health care providers in patients with prostate cancer

Abstract

16002 Background: Several formulations of Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Agonists (LHRH-A) of varying duration are available for treatment of prostate cancer (PCa). Previous reports suggest that utilization of longer acting LHRH-A may reduce the number of healthcare visits, thereby reducing the costs of managing PCa patients. In this study we investigated the frequency of patient follow-up with respect to use of 1, 3 and 4 month depot formulations in a cohort of patients with PCa from a large healthcare system in the United States. Methods: Data from PCa patients identified in the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) as International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O) code C61.9 in the tumor registry were extracted. The following patients were included: full staging information at index and the same dosage of LHRH-A during the duration of the follow-up. Patients with prior primary tumor types were excluded. Results: 653 patients receiving the same depot of LHRH-A through the duration of agonist treatment were identified (44.1 % Caucasians, mean age 72±9.2, mean Gleason score 7.2, median PSA 10.5). There was no significant difference with depot switchers excluded from the analysis. Patients receiving 1, 3 and 4-month depot formulations had 25, 29 and 41 days between any PCa related visits. Patients on the 1-month depot had 51 days between visits to urologists, while patients on 3 and 4 month depots had 46 and 60 days between urologist visits, respectively. For patients receiving 1-month depot, there was no significant difference between the actual time between PCa related follow-up visits and expected time between follow-up visits (mean difference -5 days; p=0.1923). However, patients receiving 3-month (mean difference -61 days; p<0.0001) and 4-month (mean difference -79 days; p<0.0001) depot formulations had significantly less time than expected between PCa related follow-up visits. Conclusions: Although it was expected that the depot formulation would have a significant impact on the interval between PCa related visits, the data did not support this. The results of this study suggest that patients’ frequency of follow- up with health care providers is not influenced by LHRH-A depot formulations. Author Disclosure Employment or Leadership Consultant or Advisory Role Stock Ownership Honoraria Research Expert Testimony Other Remuneration Ferring Ferring Ferring Ferring