Community Oncologists Increase Use of Genomic Testing

Commercial labs and health care providers have been working to encourage oncologists in community settings to embrace genomic testing. Efforts have included offering streamlined prescribing and reimbursement, launching physician and patient awareness campaigns, and developing better patient educational tools.

An internal survey by Foundation Medicine found that industry adoption has been slow with only 60% of advanced cancer patients receive any kind of genetic testing, and lung cancer patients were disproportionately represented because doctors were more aware of recent drug approvals that matched specific mutations. 

The use of precision medicine and targeted therapies in the treatment of cancer is quickly increasing. However, implementing such approaches in the community, where most patients are seen, often remains a challenge. Clinicians struggle to identify which molecular diagnostic tests are right for their patients at a particular time in their disease trajectory, and to know which tests will provide accurate and actionable information.

Foundation Medicine, Inc. and OneOncology recently announced a new joint initiative that is intended to better enable OneOncology partner practice physicians to unlock the potential of precision oncology through comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) and research, informed by CGP and real world evidence.

This unique partnership will empower physicians across OneOncology’s nearly 170 community oncology care sites to better drive personalized treatment plans, inclusive of targeted therapies, immunotherapies and clinical trials.

The partnership includes a research collaboration, which will focus on accelerating molecular insights and patient care through the use of clinico-genomic datasets. Foundation Medicine and OneOncology have developed the partnership in the hope that this research will not only advance patient care for OneOncology, but for patients being treated at other centers and practices.

Takeaway: This innovative partnership will accelerate the trend of delivering advanced precision oncology services for cancer patients