Experts want better cancer tests to adjust treatment

Experts say greater use of cancer testing is key to more precisely tailoring new treatments to patients, making them more likely to be recommended for use within the NHS.

Cancer researchers are calling for regulatory agencies and industry to work together to ensure that new treatments are developed alongside ‘biomarker’ tests.

of Latest figures available from 2016 to 2019showing that only 18% of anticancer agents evaluated by NICE were accompanied by biomarker testing.

Biomarker testing makes it easier and faster to demonstrate that new therapies are cost-effective by identifying patient populations that have specific changes in gene or protein levels and are more likely to benefit from treatment can.

Need for more and better biomarker tests

The high cost of precision medicine makes it difficult to recommend its use within the NHS unless it is precisely targeted to the individuals most likely to benefit from it. For this reason, the Cancer Institute of London is now calling for industry and regulators to work together to encourage the development of more and better biomarker tests.

Biomarkers can benefit patients in two ways. The first is to ensure that only those who are most likely to benefit from treatment receive it. The second is to improve approval rates for new therapies. This is to reduce costs by deploying drugs more efficiently.

Issues to be addressed

However, the costs of developing biomarker tests currently outweigh the economic benefits of doing so due to excessive regulatory and administrative costs and uncertainty about whether the test will be recommended for use within the NHS. I’m here.

Pharmaceutical evaluations tend to view companion tests as an additional cost, appearing to be less cost-effective, which may discourage pharmaceutical companies from investing in biomarker test development and implementation. Thus, new therapies with companion biomarker tests appear less attractive and difficult to develop and adopt.

Experts at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) believe that across all types of cancer, more biomarkers are needed to identify cancer patients most likely to benefit from different strategies. I claim there is.

Other barriers to biomarker development and access are highlighted by the ICR in two new perspectives on creating biomarker tests and accessing them. Experts are calling for a series of changes to how biomarker testing is used in the UK, including:

• Companies and academic institutions should continue to encourage the development of biomarker tests alongside new drugs. Especially given that the use of biomarkers may lead to a reduction in drug patient numbers.
• Governments should invest in better national infrastructure to support new biomarker research by facilitating the collection and access of patient data and clinical samples.
• A National Directory for non-genomic biomarker tests is needed to complement the National Genomic Test Directory. We also need to accelerate the process of adding new tests.

“The Key to Personalized Medicine”

Professor Christian HerrinCEO of the Cancer Institute in London, said:

“Biomarker testing is key to personalized care and to getting new drugs approved as quickly as possible. It can improve the quality of care and at the same time make NHS treatment more cost-effective.

“The problem is that it is surprisingly difficult and expensive to develop, approve and make available new biomarker tests within the NHS. It should be viewed as a more efficient way to treat patients, rather than as a way to treat them.”

provide care to the right patients

Professor Kevin HarringtonProfessor of Biological Cancer Therapy at the Cancer Institute, London and Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Royal Marsden, said:

“Our understanding of the biology of some therapies, especially immunotherapies, has lagged behind clinical development, meaning we struggle to get them to the right patients fast enough. We need more and better biomarker tests to tackle .

“Testing these measurable indicators can help predict which patients are most likely to benefit from treatment. As a result, smaller, smarter and cheaper trials will lead to new treatments.” more easily evaluated and demonstrated that they are cost-effective.”

“Knowing what biomarkers a person might have could make all the difference.”

Yvonne Diaz, 54, was diagnosed with stage 4 ALK+ lung cancer in September 2021. She was eligible for targeted therapy when her biomarker testing showed she had her ALK mutation. she said:

“I was coughing a lot, so I went to my GP first. I thought it was because of my seasonal allergies, but I had trouble speaking and my chest started to feel tight. My family doctor sent me an x-ray just to be on the safe side, and it turned out I had lung cancer, so I was very lucky that she did.

“After my diagnosis, I had a biopsy to find out what type of lung cancer I had. Yes, he said, “Good news.” I had her ALK gene mutation so it was very treatable. I started treatment after 3 days and within 2 weeks I was well enough to have dinner with my family again.

“The treatment I am receiving is a targeted therapy called brigatinib, which is easy to take, has few side effects, and most importantly, works. Knowing can make all the difference Many lung cancer patients like myself are diagnosed with Stage IV, when they are unwell and the cancer is advanced, which can help them get the right treatment. Fitting becomes even more important, and it also gives you the most precious gift you will ever have: time, and for me, more time and memories with family and friends.”

Read the ICR’s new position statement on biomarkers.