Healthcare resource utilization, costs, and survival among Medicare beneficiaries with relapsed or refractory DLBCL receiving second-line therapy: a real-world evidence study

Chemotherapy is the main treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL); yet 30–40% of patients are considered relapsed or refractory (R/R) to initial therapy and have second-line therapy (2 L). There is a need to study real-world outcomes to address the changing treatment landscape for R/R DLBCL patients. This study examined treatment patterns, healthcare utilization and costs, and survival among Medicare R/R DLBCL patients from 2016 to 2022. Study patients (n = 3,191) were an average of 75.7 years old and only 30.6% of patients initiated 3 L. Patients with 3 L incurred higher costs ($15,133 per-patient per-month [PPPM]) than all patients ($9,487 PPPM). Half of patients died within 6.7 months from start of 2 L. Patients with older age and elevated comorbidity burden had significantly shorter survival times within 3 years after 2 L initiation. Our analyses indicate a high disease burden among R/R DLBCL patients, highlighting the need for new treatments.