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Supervised Exercise for Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Cost-Utility Analysis Alongside the PREFERABLE-EFFECT Randomized Controlled Trial

Schouten AEM, Hiensch AE, Frederix GWJ, Monninkhof EM, Schmidt ME, Clauss D, Gunasekara N, Belloso J et al.

Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2025

357 participants · 10 citations

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the cost utility of a 9-month supervised exercise program for patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC), compared with control (usual care, supplemented with general activity advice and an activity tracker). Evidence on the cost-effectiveness of exercise for patients with mBC is essential for implementation in clinical practice and is currently lacking.

Methods: A cost-utility analysis was performed alongside the multinational PREFERABLE-EFFECT randomized controlled trial, conducted in 8 centers across Europe and Australia. Patients with mBC (N = 357) were randomly assigned to either a 9-month, twice-weekly, supervised exercise group (EG) or control group (CG). Costs of the exercise program were calculated through a bottom-up approach. Other health care resource use, productivity losses, and quality of life were collected using country-adapted, self-reported questionnaires. Analyses were conducted from a societal perspective with a time horizon of 9 months. Costs were collected and reported in 2021 Euros (€1 = $1.18 US dollars).

Results: Compared with the CG, EG resulted in a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gain of 0.013 (95% CI, -0.02 to 0.05) over a 9-month period. The mean costs of the exercise program were €1,696 per patient with one-on-one supervision (scenario 1) and €609 with one-on-four supervision (scenario 2). These costs were offset by savings in health care and productivity costs, resulting in mean total cost differences of -€163…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 357 participants or records.

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