Impact of earlier versus later monitoring on disease progression and healthcare costs among patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the United States

We evaluated the impact of molecular monitoring earlier as compared to later in the course of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on disease progression and healthcare costs in the real-world setting in the US. Patients with a diagnosis of CML were identified from the MarketScan claims databases (1 January 2006 to 30 June 2016). Multivariable regression analyses were used to control for differences in patient cohorts with earlier versus later monitoring. Of the 2730 CML patients in the study population, 60% (n = 1633) received earlier monitoring and 40% (n = 1097) received later monitoring only. After adjusting for differences in patient characteristics, patients with earlier monitoring had a lower likelihood of CML progression during the follow-up period (odds ratio: 0.72, confidence interval: 0.53–0.96; p =.03) and lower total healthcare costs ($6794 versus $9782 per-patient-per-month, p <.001) than patients with later monitoring. Patients who are monitored earlier in the course of CML may have better outcomes and lower total costs of care.