Access to innovative therapies in pediatric oncology: Report of the nationwide experience in Canada.
Cancer Med
; 13(3): e7033, 2024 Feb.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38400668
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The need for new therapies to improve survival and outcomes in pediatric oncology along with the lack of approval and accessible clinical trials has led to "out-of-trial" use of innovative therapies. We conducted a retrospective analysis of requests for innovative anticancer therapy in Canadian pediatric oncology tertiary centers for patients less than 30 years old between 2013 and 2020.METHODS:
Innovative therapies were defined as cancer-directed drugs used (a) off-label, (b) unlicensed drugs being used outside the context of a clinical trial, or (c) approved drugs with limited evidence in pediatrics. We excluded cytotoxic chemotherapy, cellular products, and cytokines.RESULTS:
We retrieved data on 352 innovative therapy drug requests. Underlying diagnosis was primary CNS tumor 31%; extracranial solid tumor 37%, leukemia/lymphoma 22%, LCH 2%, and plexiform neurofibroma 6%. RAS/MAP kinase pathway inhibitors were the most frequently requested innovative therapies in 28% of all requests followed by multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (17%), inhibitors of the PIK3CA-mTOR-AKT pathway (8%), immune checkpoints inhibitors (8%), and antibody drug conjugates (8%). In 112 out of 352 requests, innovative therapies were used in combination with another anticancer agent. 48% of requests were motivated by the presence of an actionable molecular target. Compassionate access accounted for 52% of all requests while public insurance was used in 27%. Mechanisms of funding varied between provinces.CONCLUSION:
This real-world data collection illustrates an increasing use of "out-of-trial" innovative therapies in pediatric oncology. This new field of practice warrants further studies to understand the impact on patient trajectory and equity in access to innovative therapies.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Neoplasms
/
Antineoplastic Agents
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Cancer Med
/
Cancer med
/
Cancer medicine
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Country of publication: