JCO Oncology Practice Publishes Updated Clinical Data Demonstrating the Real-World Impact of Genomic Testing Among Patients with Stage IV, Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Retrospective analysis of community practice and health system data identifies significant gaps in care and clinical guidelines

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Aug. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Integra Connect, LLC., a leading provider of value-based, precision medicine solutions for specialty care, announced today that JCO Oncology Practice, an American Society of Clinical Oncology Journal, published a study that found initiating treatment prior to receiving genomic test results for actionable oncogenic drivers (AODs) in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) leads to considerably inferior patient outcomes. The study's implications underscore the necessity of incorporating molecular profiling panels with rapid turnaround times as a standard of care. By doing so, healthcare professionals can optimize patient outcomes and significantly improve the effectiveness of advanced NSCLC treatments.

The study "Compromised Outcomes in Stage IV Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer With Actionable Mutations Initially Treated Without Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: A Retrospective Analysis of Real-World Data" is a retrospective analysis of multisite real-world data (RWD) from the Integra Connect Database, derived from 13 large community networks and more than 1,000 oncology sites of care across the U.S. who agreed to participate in observational quality research initiatives.

In the real-world setting, genomic testing is highly inconsistent, and compliance with current clinical guidelines is further hampered due to slow turnaround time for receipt of molecular test results. In fact, according to a recent ASCO taskforce, approximately 52% of physicians waited an average of two weeks and 37% of physicians waited three to four weeks for results, leading a significant percentage to initiate a non-targeted systemic treatment. Alarmingly, community practices were more likely to initiate non-targeted systemic treatment if results were unavailable after two weeks, compared to those in academic settings.

"This study reinforces the role of real-world data and evidence in closing gaps in patient care, but also in helping to identify new best practices in the era of precision oncology," said Jeffrey A. Scott, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and President of Population Health Solutions at Integra Connect. "We applaud the community practices and health systems leaders who participate in our quality research initiatives as their experience and expertise is playing an integral role in shaping the future of cancer care."

For this study, data from 510 patients with AODs were evaluated, including adults with stage IV NSCLC from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2020, with mutations of EGFR, ALK, ROS1, BRAF, MET, RET, ERBB2, or NTRK. Key findings include:

1. Overall survival (OS) was significantly superior among patients with advanced NSCLC who initiated molecularly matched therapy following receipt of their test results, compared to those who were treated before their AOD report and were either started on chemotherapy and/or a checkpoint inhibitor and switched to appropriate non–tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment within 35 days or were started empirically on non-TKI and did not switch within 35 days.
2. In addition to increased OS, patients who received molecularly matched therapy had a longer time to treatment failure with manageable costs versus the comparators.
3. Compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines that advise chemotherapy treatment while testing is pending may result in an inferior outcome for those with AODs.
4. Physicians should wait for test results prior to starting treatment to ensure patients receive appropriate therapy as early as possible and to mitigate exposure to ineffective or inappropriate treatments, especially given demonstrated impact on toxicity.

"In order to optimize oncology patient outcomes, healthcare professionals need to be incorporating molecular profiling panels with rapid turnaround times as a standard of care," said Simon Blanc, M.D., Senior Medical Director and leader of provider quality research initiatives at Integra Connect. "Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. – we need to continue to research optimal treatments and put them into practice."

About Integra Connect

Integra Connect is a value-based, precision medicine company that leads the industry in real-world data and analytics capabilities for oncology. With data from more than 11 million unique patient lives, decades of value-based care expertise and sophisticated technologies, it enables specialty care providers, health systems, payers, and life sciences companies to improve patient outcomes, provider decision-making, business operations and performance, and clinical research for success under value-based care models.

Since it was founded, Integra Connect has supported more than 5,000 providers, six payer organizations, and a multitude of life sciences companies in their efforts to advance value-based, precision medicine. Notably, Integra Connect enabled more than 1,500 oncology providers and payer organizations to succeed under the Oncology Care Model, generating more than $260M in value-based care revenue and more than $100M in shared savings for participating practices, supported the creation and launch of alternative payment models for oncology, and leveraged our real-world data set to enable life sciences research into precision medicine advancements.

To learn more, please visit: Integraconnect.com or LinkedIn.

CONTACT:
Alyssa Howerton 
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SOURCE Integra Connect