Identification of barriers to implementation of precision oncology in patients with rare cancers

Abstract

Established treatment options for rare cancers are limited by the small number of patients. The current comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) testing might not fully exploit opportunities for precision oncology in patients with rare cancers. Therefore, we aimed to explore the factors associated with CGP testing utility in rare cancers and identify barriers to implementing precision oncology. Patients who underwent CGP testing at our institution between September 2019 and June 2021 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Based on their results, the patients received molecularly targeted drugs or immune checkpoint inhibitors. Univariate and multivariate analyses evaluated the association between patient characteristics and the proportion of patients receiving molecularly targeted drugs. Overall, 790 patients underwent CGP testing. Among them, 333 patients with rare cancers were identified, of whom 278 (83.5%) had actionable genomic alterations, 127 (38.1%) had druggable genomic alterations, and 25 (7.5%) received genomically matched therapy. The proportion of patients receiving molecularly targeted drugs was significantly higher among those with treatment options with evidence levels A–D (8.7%) than those without treatment options with evidence levels A–D (2.9%). A potential barrier to CGP testing utility in rare cancers is the limited number of molecularly targeted drugs with clinical evidence. We propose that CGP testing be performed in patients with rare cancers who have treatment options with evidence levels A–D to maximize CGP testing utility in real‐world practice.