Guideline-recommended incorporation of biomarker testing results in metastatic colorectal cancer therapy.

Aim: To describe pharmacogenomic tumor testing among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer diagnosed between 1 January 2014 and 30 June 2018. Patients were assessed for pharmacogenomic testing and appropriateness of chemotherapy use. Results: Overall, 112/167 (67.1%) patients had at least one of the three recommended pharmacogenomic tests and 41/167 (24.6%) had all tests. Twenty-four patients were treated with cetuximab with 8/167 (4.7%) identified as being treated with a RAS variant (n = 3) or incomplete testing (n = 5); thus, not in accordance with guidelines. Conclusion: Uptake of testing was variable but increased over time; however, a small proportion of patients received cetuximab with a variant or not all recommended tests being performed.

Patterns and predictors of first-line chemotherapy use among adults with advanced non-small cell lung cancer in the cancer research network.

BACKGROUND: Relatively low rates of chemotherapy receipt have been observed in older patients diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in SEER-Medicare-based studies. However, little is known about variation in first-line NSCLC chemotherapy use in younger patients, health maintenance organization (HMO)-based settings, and for high-cost, novel agents, such as bevacizumab and erlotinib. METHODS: A cohort of 6614 stage IIIB/IV NSCLC patients aged ≥ 21 years diagnosed between 2000 and 2007 was identified at four HMOs that participate in the Cancer Research Network (CRN). Demographic, comorbidity, tumor characteristics, and chemotherapy treatment data were included in logistic regression models to identify factors associated with chemotherapy receipt and tests of association examined secular and age-specific variation in first-line chemotherapy regimens. RESULTS: Within 120 days of diagnosis, 3612 (55%) patients received chemotherapy; increasing from 52% of patients diagnosed in 2000 to 59% in 2007 (p<0.001). Receipt was significantly higher for patients aged <65 years (64% versus 46% in ≥ 65) and was inversely related to stage and comorbidites (all p<0.001). Carboplatin and paclitaxel were received most frequently. Erlotinib and bevacizumab use in the later years of the study was associated with a significant change in distributions of first-line chemotherapies (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: For patients alive 30 days post diagnosis, chemotherapy use was higher in the aged population (>65 years) than previously published estimates, and higher still among younger patients. Chemotherapy use increased over the observation period, and the mix of first-line therapies used changed substantially over time. Of note, novel, high cost treatments were used in first-line therapy prior to FDA approval, increasing significantly throughout the study period. These findings demonstrate the utility of HMO CRN data to augment SEER-Medicare to conduct comparative effectiveness research related to chemotherapy use and the use of specific agents, especially among younger patients.

Validity of eight integrated healthcare delivery organizations' administrative clinical data to capture breast cancer chemotherapy exposure.

BACKGROUND: Cancer Research Network (CRN) sites use administrative data to populate their Virtual Data Warehouse (VDW). However, information on VDW chemotherapy data validity is limited. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of VDW chemotherapy data. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of women ≥18 years with incident, invasive breast cancer diagnosed between January 1999 and December 2007. Pharmacy and procedure chemotherapy data were extracted from each site's VDW. Random samples of 50 patients stratified on trastuzumab, anthracyclines, and no chemotherapy exposure was selected from each site for detailed chart abstraction. Weighted sensitivities and specificities of VDW compared with abstracted data were calculated. Cumulative doses calculated from VDW data were compared with doses obtained from the medical chart review. RESULTS: The cohort included 13,497 patients with 6,456 (48%) chart review eligible. Patients in the sample (N = 400) had a mean age of 65 years. Trastuzumab, anthracycline, and other chemotherapy weighted sensitivities were 95%, 97%, and 100%, respectively; specificities were 99%, 99%, and 93%, respectively; positive predictive values were 96%, 99%, and 55%, respectively; and negative predictive values were 99%, 96%, and 100%. Trastuzumab and anthracyclines VDW mean doses were 873 and 386 mg, respectively, whereas abstracted mean doses were 1,734 and 369 mgs, respectively (R(2) = 0.14, P < 0.01 and R(2) = 0.05, P = 0.03, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Sensitivities and specificities for CRN chemotherapy VDW data were high and dosages were correlated with chart information. IMPACT: The findings support the use of CRN data in evaluating chemotherapy exposures and related outcomes.