TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2025 , Vol 40 , Num 3
Large Language Models for Analyzing Cancer Drug Reimbursement Policies in Türkiye's Health Practice Regulation
Rashad ISMAYILOV1,Aydan FARZALIYEVA1,Mehmet Nezir RAMAZANOĞLU1,Murat KOÇAK2,Arzu OĞUZ1,Özden ALTUNDAĞ1,Zafer AKÇALI1
1Department of Medical Oncology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara-Türkiye
2Department of Medical Informatics, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara-Türkiye
DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2025.4563 OBJECTIVE
Cancer drug reimbursement policies play a crucial role in regulating access to novel therapies. In Türkiye, the Social Security Institution's Health Practice Regulation (SUT) defines the reimbursement criteria for cancer treatments. Despite frequent updates, oncologists face challenges in interpreting and applying these regulations. Large language models (LLMs) have shown potential in processing complex medical texts, yet their utility in regulatory compliance remains underexplored.

METHODS
We evaluated the effectiveness of GOOGLE Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 03-25 in analyzing drug reimbursement policies within the SUT. A structured prompt was developed to ensure responses strictly adhered to regulatory text. A total of 80 oncology-related test questions, covering multiple cancer types, were used to assess the model"s accuracy. Responses were categorized as correct and complete, correct but incomplete, or incorrect. Performance metrics, including precision, recall, and F1-score, were calculated. An iterative prompt engineering process was employed to optimize model performance.

RESULTS
The LLM provided completely correct responses to 77 (96.3%) of 80 test cases and correct but incomplete responses to 3 (3.7%), with no incorrect answers. Performance metrics demonstrated high accuracy (precision: 1.00, recall: 0.96, F1-score: 0.98). The model successfully processed medical terminology variations but showed limitations in synthesizing implicit reimbursement rules.

CONCLUSION
LLMs demonstrate strong potential for interpreting cancer drug reimbursement regulations, reducing administrative burden for oncologists. Future refinements should address inference limitations to enhance regulatory compliance support in clinical practice. Keywords : Artificial intelligence; cancer; large language models; oncology policy