In June 2020, the Andalusian Health Technology Assessment Department (AETSA) published an update of the earlier report (2012) on assessment of effectiveness and safety of tumor treating fields (TTF) therapy in glioblastoma.
A systematic review of the scientific literature has been conducted in the MedLine, Embase, WOS reference databases, Cochrane Library, and on the websites Health Technology Assessment Agencies and EuroScan. One systematic review, a clinical trial described in 4 publications, 3 case series and 2 economic studies were selected for the research.
The following results were outlined by AETSA:
- TTF therapy was not associated with an increase of adverse effects and its severity, except for the higher incidence of mild-moderate dermatological adverse reactions located at the location of the transducers;
- The clinical trial showed that overall survival was superior in the group treated with TTF+ temozolamide (TMZ) as the first line of treatment (20.9 months) compared to the group treated with TMZ only (16 months; p<0.001). These differences were also found in the percentage of patients alive at 2, 3, and 5 years. A greater disease-free survival was observed in the group treated with TTF+TMZ compared to the group treated with TMZ only;
- Regarding the quality of life, patients treated with TTF had complaints about the itching of the scalp compared to the control group;
- The device was not cost-effective in the European environment, with an ICER between $150,000 and €596,411 per QALY.
The full details in Spanish can be found here.
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