New Study Finds More Than 20,000 Life-Years Could Be Gained Annually Through Better Implementation of Precision Medicine in Metastatic Lung Cancer
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) today announced the publication of a new study in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy. The report, “Clinical Harm from Failure to Deploy Personalized Medicine for Patients with Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer,” developed by a collaborative team including PMC, Illumina, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Eli Lilly, and led by Curta Health Economics, quantifies the clinical consequences of failing to fully implement precision oncology for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The study compared current clinical practice with a scenario in which all eligible patients receive optimal biomarker testing and matched targeted therapy. The analysis found that thousands of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be missing opportunities to benefit from precision medicine because recommended biomarker testing and matched targeted therapies are not consistently used in clinical practice. The analysis estimates that improving adherence to evidence-based testing and treatment guidelines could yield more than 20,000 additional life-years for patients in the United States each year.
The findings reinforce PMC’s longstanding efforts to advance policies and practices that support comprehensive biomarker testing, timely access to targeted therapies, and the integration of personalized medicine into routine patient care. By quantifying the clinical consequences of underutilizing precision medicine, the study provides compelling evidence that expanding access to genomic testing and matched therapies can deliver meaningful benefits for patients.
“PMC has worked with stakeholders across the healthcare community for years to identify implementation gaps and develop practical strategies to ensure that every eligible patient benefits from personalized medicine.,” said Daryl Pritchard, Senior Advisor to the Personalized Medicine Coalition and co-author of the study. “These findings underscore the importance of removing barriers to biomarker testing and ensuring that every eligible patient has the opportunity to benefit from personalized care.”
The study adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that successful implementation of precision medicine requires not only scientific innovation but also healthcare systems and policies that support adoption of proven genomic technologies and targeted treatments.