Cost-effectiveness of first-line sintilimab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy for advanced esophageal carcinoma in China

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of first-line sintilimab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) from the perspective of the Chinese health service system. A partitioned survival model was constructed to simulate quality-adjusted life years and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios over a patient's lifetime based on a phase III clinical trial. Sintilimab plus chemotherapy increased by 0.316 QALY and 0.285 QALY with the additional cost of $5692 and $5269, which led to the ICER of $18000/QALY and $18519/QALY gained in the overall population and the patients with CPS ≥ 10, respectively. Compared with chemotherapy alone, sintilimab may be a cost-effective first-line treatment choice for locally advanced or metastatic ESCC.