With the rapid growth in molecular diagnostics and targeted treatments, cancer providers are able to deliver increasingly precise treatment tailored to patients’ unique genomic profiles. Personalized medicine is a fast-moving field, and it raises questions about how to adapt today’s care delivery model to accommodate the next generation of therapies.

Read this study to find 10 lessons to position your cancer program for success in the era of personalized medicine.

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As always, cancer program leaders must balance business and operational realities with the need to provide cutting-edge cancer treatments to their patients.

Personalized medicine has the potential to greatly improve cancer patients’ outcomes. Targeted therapies have been shown to reduce tumor recurrence, inhibit tumor growth, and even reduce risk of death for certain patient populations.

Furthermore, targeted therapies can improve patient adherence to recommended treatment by reducing side effects. They also have the potential to decrease avoidable costs by limiting adverse drug reactions and ineffective chemotherapy. Given these benefits, providers across the country—in academic and community settings—are eager to deliver personalized medicine to their patients.

However, cancer programs face a number of challenges to implementing personalized medicine. To be successful, program leaders should take a principled approach. This publication will cover considerations and best practices for three steps.

Evaluate the Business Case

With limited resources and many competing priorities, cancer program leaders need to craft a business case for personalized medicine. Leaders should clearly communicate how personalized medicine can contribute to their organization’s mission. They should also estimate patient and physician demand for molecular testing and perform financial analyses.

A critical decision will be whether to build in-house molecular testing capabilities or partner with another provider or vendor. Oncology Roundtable members can use the practices in this study, as well as online resources, to accomplish these tasks.

Develop Clinical Workflows

Because the field of personalized medicine is rapidly evolving, clinicians will need help staying up to date on the latest clinical evidence and innovations. To put personalized medicine into practice, programs should begin by identifying patient populations that are good candidates for molecular testing and determining when testing should happen during the course of their care.

In addition, cancer programs can leverage clinical decision support to provide guidance for physicians at the point of care. To encourage ongoing education and opportunities for collaboration, programs should develop or participate in molecular tumor boards. Start on page 33.

Optimize Data Management

Personalized medicine tests generate huge amounts of information, so providers will need to manage and make the most of rapidly accumulating genomic data. Programs can either develop an internal data warehouse, which requires significant resources but allows for full ownership of data, or partner for data warehousing capabilities. Get started with page 43.

Lessons to help you successfully implement personalized medicine

A New Era in Cancer Care
Age-adjusted cancer incidence is declining while improved treatment is greatly impacting survival rates—and cancer research is poised for more breakthroughs.  

Evaluate the Business Case
A thorough business plan accounts for organizational, market, financial, and operational considerations.

• Align with Your Organization’s Mission
• Estimate Volumes and Demand
• Perform Financial Analysis
• Develop a Molecular Testing Strategy

Develop Clinical Workflows
There are many barriers to putting personalized medicine into practice—ensure your clinicians are equipped to take advantage of testing and treatment innovations.

• Identify Patients Eligible for Testing
• Determine Optimal Timing of Testing
• Provide Clinical Decision Support
• Create Molecular Tumor Boards

Optimize Data Management
To store and maximize the value of genomic testing data, cancer programs need to develop new data management capabilities.

• Build an Internal Data Warehouse
• Select a Data Warehouse Partner
• Special Report: Clinical Trials in the Era of Personalized Medicine

Unlocking the Power of Numbers
Cancer providers must share data, choose the right partners, and build big data together to succeed.

Appendix
Resources to further your personalized medicine knowledge.

• Personalized Medicine Glossary
• Lab Partner Vetting Worksheet

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