Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Reduction in costs with a 4-week course of moderately hypofractionation chemoradiation in unresectable stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer: a secondary analysis from the phase 2 MODERN-LUNG trial (146551)

lucy Butcher 1 , Mahesh Kumar 1 2 , senthilkumar Gandhidasan 3 , Eric Hau 4 , Emily Brown 1 , Shalini Vinod 5 , Joanna Ludbrook 1 2
  1. Calvary Mater Newcastle, WARATAH, NSW, Australia
  2. School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
  3. Radiation Oncology, Illawarra Cancer Care Centre, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
  4. Radiation Oncology, Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR), Wesmead, NSW, Australia
  5. southwestern Sydney clinical School, The university of New South Wales & Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Aims:  Unresectable stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is radically treated with a standard 6-weeks of conventionally fractionated chemoradiotherapy (2Gray/fraction) imposing significant health care and economic burden. This study estimates the travel costs for patients and their radiotherapy Medicare fees for participants in the single arm prospective phase 2 study assessing the safety of a 4-week course of moderately hypo fractionated (2.75Gray/fraction) regimen.

Methods: From the study database, the postcode of the participants’ residency was identified and the approximate distances to the treatment centres were retrospectively calculated using Google Maps. The Australian Taxation Office guidelines were used to calculate the private car travel costs (88c /KM, 2024-2026). The fixed radiotherapy costs were based on the Medicare benefits schemes (MBS). Descriptive analysis compared the 4-weeks (20 visits) treatment costs to a hypothetical 6-weeks course (30 visits).

Results: Fifty patients completed 4 weeks of chemoradiation. The car travel costs for a 4-week course was median AUD$ 419 (range $35 -$2545) and 6 weeks would be median AUD$ 628 (range $53- $3818). Radiotherapy cost for the 4-week course was AUD $ 6324, and the hypothetical 6-week course would have costed AUD $ 9486.00.

Conclusions: We observed a meaningful 1/3rd reduction in car travel costs and the Medicare costs for patients undergoing a 4-week course of chemoradiation compared to a 6-week course. This data supports our research team’s development of a phase 3 trial comparing 4 weeks with 6 weeks of chemoradiation in unresectable stage 3 NSCLC.