Nivolumab, a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor, is an expensive but promising medication to treat non-curable non-small cell lung cancer that is refractory to first-line chemotherapy.
One hundred individuals living in Tokyo or Yokohama, Japan were invited to answer our questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised nine multiple-choice questions.
The median age of the 100 respondents was in their 40s. They consisted of 45 men, 55 women, 20 pulmonologists, 20 medical doctors from other specialties, 20 registered nurses, 20 medical staff other than doctors/nurses, and 20 who were not healthcare professionals. The utility coefficient of a patient with lung cancer who is undergoing chemotherapy is estimated to be 0.8. We estimated that the willingness-to-pay from public financial resources for one additional quality-adjusted life-year gained by chemotherapy for a lung cancer patient is approximately 625,000 JPY/year (=about 5,600 USD/year). Eighty-one percent considered that the current price of nivolumab, 1,500,000 JPY/year (=about 13,500 USD/year), to be expensive. As many as 70% thought that patients who are responsible for their own disease, such as smokers, should pay more medical costs than those who are not.
In conclusion, willingness-to-pay for medical interventions in Japan should be further discussed.