Economic evaluation of sunitinib malate in second-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma in Finland

CRD summary The study examined the cost-effectiveness of sunitinib as second-line therapy, compared with usual care, in cytokinerefractory patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The authors concluded that sunitinib was a potentially costeffective second-line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma in comparison with usual care from the perspective of the health care payer in Finland. The quality of the study methodology was good, especially with respect to the probabilistic approach of the decision model. However, the authors’ conclusions should be treated with some caution given the lack of clinical studies with direct comparisons between the treatment analysed.