The cost of unresectable stage III or stage IV melanoma in Italy

Table 7 Cost of adverse event management for most commonly prescribed agents (occurring in ≥ 5% of patients

Category of adverse event management	Most frequent medical agent(s)	Percentage of events treated with agent	Unit cost per day (€ 2009)	Mean duration (days)	Cost per event (€ 2009)
Antiemetics and antinauseants	Ondansetron ^{(1), (2)}	90,7	5,99	66,5	56,9
Drugs for acid related disorders	Omeprazole	75	0,25	99,5	24,9
Corticosteroids for systemic use	Dexamethasone	50	0,8	133,3	106,6
Analgesics	Co-efferalgan	30,8	0,52	48,5	25,2
	Tramadol	30,8	1,92	25,5	49
Drugs for functional gastrointestinal disorders	Metoclopramide	100	0,92	97,5	89,7
Immunostimulants	Filgrastim ⁽³⁾	44,4	65,42	23,2	785
	Lenograstim	11,1	79,39	12	952,7
	Pegfilgrastim ⁽⁴⁾	11,1	902,48	71	3051,2

⁽¹⁾ Assumed maximum duration 3 days per 21-day cycle throughout observed mean duration.
⁽²⁾ Unit cost is per day, given once per 21-day cycle throughout observed mean duration.
⁽³⁾ Assumed maximum duration 12 days; if observed mean duration of 23,2 days is used, then total cost is 1517,7.
⁽⁴⁾ Unit cost is per cycle, given once per 21-day cycle throughout observed mean duration.

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