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German Precision Cancer Think Tank 25th May 2023

As part of the Precision Cancer Consortium (PCC) workstream on education and awareness our mission is to uncover the challenges faced by HCP’s who practice in community settings.

Disclaimer: The ideas and opinions expressed by the expert participants in these recordings are their own and not the opinions of the PCC or its member companies.

Key Discussion Topics:

Participants:

  • Dr Marius Bartels
  • Prof. h. c. Dr. med. Markus Tiemann
  • Prof. Henning Schulze-Bergkamen, MD
  • Dr. med. Janna-Lisa Velthaus-Rusik
  • Dr Tobias Rachow
  • Prof. Dr. med. Hermann Herbst, FRCPath
  • Dr. med. Norbert Marschner
  • Prof. Dr. Maike de Wit (no video intro)

Participants Introductions

Test reimbursement

In-patient or out-patient setting may determine reimbursement/funding for diagnostic tests. Whether a test is new or established also has an impact: newer tests may not be covered initially and require justification to obtain funding.

Opportunities to improve

  • Convene a molecular tumour board that generates evidence packages that can be provided to insurers/payors for funding/reimbursement justification.
  • More timely stakeholder input and evidence provided to the Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss, G-BA committee (The Federal Joint Committee) about new biomarkers and associated drugs. Providing the G-BA committee with relevant evidence/dossiers so that they can make their funding decisions more quickly.
  • Better coordination between in-patient and out-patient providers to facility timely testing.

View some of the highlights here:

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New targeted therapies, new biomarkers, access to clinical trials

Concerns were expressed around keeping up to date with the latest therapies and biomarkers because it is rapidly and constantly changing.  It is important to know which to prioritise in the case of multiple treatment options.Identification and access to appropriate clinical trials for patients can be challenging, however, access to novel therapies via clinical trials is imperative..

Opportunities to improve

  • A decision support system to assist in keeping up to date with new therapies and biomarkers; the preferred system would allow entry of the genomic alterations with an output of guidance on treatment
  • Access to an easily searchable, comprehensive clinical trial database to direct patients to ongoing trials.
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When is the right time to test?

When to test depends on the cancer entity.  For some testing can be quite late and the patient’s condition has deteriorated to a point where treatment cannot be given.  The consensus was that NGS testing should be done early (at diagnosis) to facilitate optimal patient care and considered again at progression.

Opportunities to improve

  • Increase awareness and education among health care providers on the clinical value of early NGS testing.
  • Collaborate with regulatory and access to enable earlier testing. Foster/Facilitate a regulatory/reimbursement environment that would make early NGS testing more feasible.

View some of the highlights here:

Play Video
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Members

Disclaimer: This non-promotional meeting was organised and funded by Precision Cancer Consortium. Membership of the PCC includes pharmaceutical companies. Precision Medicine Forum was commissioned by Precision Cancer Consortium to collaborate on and support this meeting.

October 2023

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