Raising awareness
This study should serve to raise awareness that not all NSCLC patients who should be tested are being tested, study co-author Nicholas Robert, MD, said in an interview.
“There is a great line – ‘right drug, right patient, right time’ – and we’re not meeting that,” said Dr. Robert, vice president of medical affairs for Ontada, an oncology insights and technology company that is part of McKesson, which acquired the US Oncology Network in 2010.
The hope is that general oncologists will begin thinking of biomarker testing in NSCLC as being essential in the same way hormone receptor and HER2 testing are in breast cancer, according to Dr. Robert.
“You would never think about treating anyone with breast cancer without those variables,” he said. “We’d like to think that the general oncologist feels the same way about biomarkers in non-small cell cancer, that it’s something that should be done routinely across the board.”
The next phase of the MYLUNG Consortium study will prospectively evaluate biomarker test-ordering practices, turnaround times, and treatment decision making in approximately 1,000 patients from 11 sites, while the final phase will evaluate interventions to improve biomarker testing and access to therapies in up to 7,500 patients at 20 sites, according to the US Oncology Network.
Dr. Evangelist reported a consulting or advisory role with Takeda and AstraZeneca. Dr. Robert reported employment, leadership, and stock/ownership interest disclosures related to McKesson, along with other disclosures related to Johnson & Johnson, Oncolytics Biotech, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Advi, Boehringer Ingelheim, and New Century Health. Dr. Lovly reported disclosures related to Amgen, AstraZeneca, Genentech, Novartis, and Pfizer, among others.