Although clinical practice guidelines recommend testing for certain molecular and immune-directed biomarkers in eligible patients with non-small cell lung cancer, recent studies report that more than 70 percent of patients treated in community cancer programs do not receive guideline-concordant biomarker testing. In addition, more than 50 percent of patients tested do not receive evidence-based targeted therapies based on their test results.
In a recent survey conducted by ACCC, more than 50 percent of programs stated that their processes and procedures for established and emerging biomarker testing needed improvement. Rural cancer programs indicated that they face unique barriers to biomarker testing, including insufficient tissue for testing, lack of a multidisciplinary team to review testing processes and procedures, and lengthy turnaround times for test results.
For more information on this project, please contact the ACCC Provider Education department.
In this report, ACCC shares insights from its multi-phased education program to improve comprehensive biomarker testing for patients with advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer. Featuring six cancer care programs with representation from across the multidisciplinary cancer care team, this program explored current barriers to biomarker testing and opportunities to address them through pre-and post-assessments, a virtual workshop, action planning, and a virtual discussion to assess progress and address implementation challenges. Over 80% of providers said they gained new, practical knowledge about biomarker testing in advanced NSCLC from this program.
This innovative learning tool can help multidisciplinary cancer care teams obtain the knowledge they need to implement, expand, and sustain biomarker testing for patients with advanced NSCLC.
The Biomarker Testing Implementation Roadmap is an innovative learning tool that can help multidisciplinary cancer care teams obtain the knowledge they need to implement, expand, and sustain biomarker testing for patients with advanced NSCLC. Accompanying resources provide more information and are available in the Resource Library.