A personalized approach to the treatment of malignant melanoma: An economic evaluation of ipilimumab

Malignant melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer that is generally fatal if untreated. Approximately 10-20% of patients treated with ipilimumab may experience significant long term survival benefits. However, a UK agency recently recommended against public funding for ipilimumab on the grounds that no biomarkers have been discovered to identify the small group of people most likely to benefit from this treatment. The goals of this project are to 1. Create a decision analytic model to assess the health impact, costs and cost effectiveness of treatment with ipilimumab; and 2. Determine the conditions required for a biomarker test to be considered cost effective. This work will be done in partnership with ARCC, The Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control. The project will benefit ARCC by contributing to their research activities in the area of Health Technology Assessmen

Faculty Supervisor:

Gregory Zaric

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control;Western University

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Western University

Program: