It's no secret that precision medication has revolutionized most cancers care by providing extra customized remedy choices based mostly on the genomic profile of a person's most cancers. And whereas single-gene testing was once ample to deal with these insights, the growth of focused therapies in right now's market has highlighted the significance of next-generation sequencing. Though the promise of the expertise is there, apply has not but caught up.

There are important boundaries which might be stalling the widespread adoption of genomic sequencing – and, in consequence, limiting affected person entry to doubtlessly life-saving therapies. On this article, we focus on how top-to-bottom collaboration can take away these boundaries and assist enhance entry to the simplest remedies for all most cancers sufferers.

Boundaries and inequalities in entry to tumor biopsies and biopsy referral

Current research have highlighted the roadblocks stopping the introduction of genomic sequencing into medical apply. A 2022 evaluation of greater than 38,000 sufferers with superior non-small cell lung most cancers (NSCLC) revealed alarming gaps within the implementation of precision oncology. This analysis confirmed that:

• Almost half (49.7%) of sufferers didn’t have entry to precision oncology because of numerous components associated to acquiring biomarker check outcomes.
• Moreover, 29.2% of sufferers who achieved their outcomes didn’t obtain applicable focused remedies.

The above-mentioned obstacles are solely additional exacerbated by the dearth of equal entry to tumor biopsies, with disparities discovered between sufferers from totally different socio-economic backgrounds. Sufferers from underserved communities are much less prone to endure biopsy referral, typically resulting in missed alternatives for focused remedy and optimistic outcomes. Challenges nonetheless stay in pattern assortment and analysis, which might influence the accuracy of biomarker testing. For instance, variability in tissue high quality can result in insufficient or inaccurate outcomes, additional complicating remedy selections and losing invaluable time that sufferers merely wouldn’t have.

Fortuitously, addressing these inconsistencies will be completed with a number of greatest practices:

• Interventions needs to be carried out from a healthcare perspective to assist guarantee equal entry to biopsy providers for all sufferers, no matter their monetary standing or geographic location.
• Different approaches reminiscent of liquid biopsy testing needs to be thought-about for circumstances the place tissue biopsy will not be possible or poses important dangers.
• Hospitals and medical websites ought to standardize protocols for dealing with biospecimens and implement pathology analysis of their establishments. Investments in the fitting expertise and infrastructure may also assist enhance the sensitivity and specificity of biomarker exams and result in extra dependable outcomes for medical choice making.

A lacking hyperlink: ordering biomarker exams

One other important difficulty is the underutilization of biomarker testing, with many sufferers not requesting exams earlier than remedy even begins. To fight this, healthcare suppliers should maintain their finger on the heart beat when testing biomarkers to information remedy selections; that is solely turning into extra pressing as focused therapies are more and more permitted for medical use. Of the 198 new oncology medication permitted by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1998 and 2022, almost 50% had been precision therapies.

Delays in reporting check outcomes may delay remedy initiation. Streamlining the testing course of and integrating biomarker knowledge into digital well being data can speed up remedy selections, whereas implementing medical choice help techniques and multidisciplinary tumor boards might help facilitate the interpretation of check outcomes – all pathways to sufferers receiving probably the most applicable therapies based mostly on on their genomic profile.

So, what’s the total answer?

The most important lacking piece in breaking down the above boundaries is schooling. To make tangible progress in precision oncology, healthcare professionals should first be geared up with the data and expertise wanted to interpret genomic knowledge after which successfully combine it into affected person care plans. Likewise, sufferers ought to really feel empowered to advocate for themselves, a sense that could possibly be achieved by understanding the position of biomarker testing in guiding their remedy choices. Investing in schooling and coaching applications is step one in serving to us bridge the hole between analysis and apply.

Advancing precision oncology requires a collective effort from everybody; stakeholders, healthcare suppliers, coverage makers, researchers and sufferers all have a duty to enhance the present established order.

Photograph: Overearth, Getty Photographs

Kathy Davy is president of Medical Subsequent-Era Sequencing at Thermo Fisher Scientific. She accomplished her BS in biology from the College of California, Irvine and MBA from the Fuqua Faculty of Enterprise at Duke College. Earlier than becoming a member of Thermo Fisher, Kathy held positions at a number of different outstanding trade organizations. Her experience spans pharmaceutical and companion diagnostics, molecular diagnostics, most cancers genomics and next-generation sequencing. She is keen about driving innovation in precision oncology to bridge the hole between analysis and apply.

This message seems by way of the MedCity Influencers program. Anybody can publish their views on enterprise and innovation in healthcare on MedCity Information by way of MedCity Influencers. Click on right here to see how.