Box 1 Key assumptions of the health economic model

From: Cost-effectiveness of oxaliplatin and capecitabine in the adjuvant treatment of stage III colon cancer

• Survival following relapse is assumed to be independent of time of relapse and adjuvant treatment received (e.g. patients relapsing after FOLFOX4 are assumed to still have the same treatment options and expected survival as those relapsing after 5-FU/LV). While earlier relapse may indicate more aggressive disease and a poorer prognosis, without patient-level data this assumption is inevitable

• The survival of patients following relapse is assumed to be equivalent to survival of patients enrolled within the FOCUS trial

• All relapses are assumed to occur within five years following resection of the primary tumour. Clinical evidence from long-term follow-up of patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy supports this assumption (Moertel et al, 1995). The impact of this assumption on the central estimates of cost-effectiveness was tested within the sensitivity analysis

• Patients with subsequent metastatic disease are assumed to receive first-line 5-FU/LV followed upon progression by single-agent irinotecan

• In line with the administration schedule used in the MOSAIC trial (André et al, 2004), patients receiving 5-FU/LV via the de Gramont regimen are assumed to receive their treatment on an outpatient basis

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