Worldwide, almost 20 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year. While precision-guided cancer management has demonstrated improved outcomes up to threefold, access to precision oncology testing, such as liquid biopsy, remains limited.
For example, only 12% of eligible patients in the United States are tested for all seven National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommended biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancer. Of the patients tested, 85% receive test results later than within the 14 days of diagnosis recommendation.
We would argue that this current state is not nearly precise. The model of referring testing to third parties, outside of the institution where patients seek care, both costs too much and takes too long to deliver actionable information. It’s not part of the hospital workflow. Oncologists have to access documents separately across different systems. Data interpretation can be challenging and is often only supported by periodic tumor boards.
Additionally, third-party testing, which requires samples and patient data to be sent out of the hospital, is logistically challenging, and returned results are not readily available in the patient’s electronic medical record. These are just the barriers to initial treatment. Recurrence monitoring is even less cohesive and relies mainly on imprecise imaging technologies.
Ensuring all patients have access to next-generation cancer treatment selection and recurrence monitoring requires a fundamental shift in how and where care is delivered. We need to move resources and capabilities to where the majority of patients receive care—within their own communities—by bringing the technology to deliver innovative testing right into their institution at the point of care.
At Canexia, our vision is to close the care gap by empowering community healthcare and cancer organizations to deliver precision oncology close to home, where patients live, without needing to refer to third parties or academic hospitals in major urban centers.
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