Abstract 942: Real-world demographics, baseline characteristics, healthcare resource utilization and costs amongst non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients tested with a Host Immune Classifier (HIC)
Authors: Iams Wade , Le Kimberly , Princic Nicole , Winer Isabelle , Marlin Taylor 
Published: April 2023

Background: The Host Immune Classifier is a proteomic test that identifies a chronic inflammatory disease state for patients diagnosed with NSCLC. The test stratifies patients into two groups, HIC-H and HIC-C and helps evaluate patient prognosis and response to treatment. While much work has been done to evaluate the clinical validity of the HIC test, to date, no recent real-world studies have described healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs amongst patients utilizing the test. This subset analysis of HIC claims examined demographic and baseline clinical characteristics among patients with lung cancer using the HIC proteomic test as well as HCRU and costs prior to test use.

Methods: This retrospective claims analysis utilized MarketScan® Commercial and Medicare Supplemental Databases using data from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021 linked to Biodesix data files of HIC test results. Patients were age 18 or older on index date (date of HIC testing), underwent a HIC proteomic test, were continuously enrolled in the MarketScan database for the 6-months before index (pre-index period), and had at least one non-diagnostic medical claim of lung cancer during the pre-index period. Clinical characteristics and HCRU and costs were measured per patient per month (PPPM) during the pre-index period and compared between HIC-H and HIC-C cohorts.

Results: Of the 328 included patients, 260 patients were HIC-H and 68 were HIC-C. On index, 178 patients had non-metastatic lung cancer and 150 patients had metastatic lung cancer. When assessing lung cancer related comorbid conditions, significantly more HIC-C patients had empyema (3% vs 0%, P&lt;0.05) and pneumonia (34% vs 19%, P&lt;0.05). When examining HCRU in patients prior to the HIC test, significantly more HIC-C patients had an outpatient visit with an oncologist (40% vs 27%, P&lt;0.05) or a primary care physician (71% vs 56%, P&lt;0.05). Total costs and inpatient costs were higher amongst HIC-C patients ($10,299 vs $9,689 and $4,032 vs $3,218, respectively) although not significant. While fewer HIC-C patients underwent lung biopsy (41% vs 53%), HIC-C patients had significantly higher biopsy costs than HIC-H patients ($1,285 vs $400, P&lt;0.05). Although not statistically significant, more HIC-C patients had an inpatient admission (47% vs 38%) and longer average length of stay (5.3 vs 4.2 days).

Conclusion: Patients with NSCLC who are identified as HIC-C have higher HCRU and costs, including lung cancer workup costs, prior to HIC testing. Further analyses are planned to determine long-term clinical outcomes, HCRU, and costs amongst patients post-testing.

Citation Format: Wade Iams, Kimberly Le, Nicole Princic, Isabelle Winer, Taylor Marlin. Real-world demographics, baseline characteristics, healthcare resource utilization and costs amongst non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients tested with a Host Immune Classifier (HIC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 942.