ABSTRACT
The strength of Real-world data (RWE) must be subject to many of the principles of statistical inference and methodological rigor. For the purposes of economic evaluation, RWD can provide valuable information on actual health resource use involved in delivering a cancer intervention, rather than protocol-defined healthcare. RWD can be determined from several sources including electronic health records, disease registries, and other sources of administrative data. RWD is seen in some ways as an enhancement and extension of such data collection to include outcomes beyond safety. Comparing treatment differences in RWD studies will be influenced by differences in baseline characteristics. An example of an RWD study with cost-effectiveness implications was reported by Scherer et al. This study was undertaken to better understand the consequences of real-world chemotherapy patterns in non-small-cell lung cancer/carcinoma (NSCLC). Patients with NSCLC were randomly assigned to web-mediated follow-up or usual follow-up while taking their usual maintenance chemotherapy, or tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or no treatment.
