A new study from London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) is pointing to a potential shift in how doctors treat cancer, finding that expanded genetic testing can help identify treatment options that may otherwise be missed. Researchers at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) followed more than 500 patients with a wide range of cancers whose tumours underwent advanced genetic testing. The testing looked at hundreds of cancer-related genes at once, rather than focusing only on genes closely associated with a patient’s specific type of cancer. Researchers found nearly one in three patients became eligible for a treatment option that may not otherwise have been available to them. Dr. Bekim Sadikovic, a scientist with the LHSCRI and head of the Verspeeten Clinical Genome Centre, says the findings highlight the differences between cancers, even when two patients have the same diagnosis. “Two patients with the same cancer type don’t actually have the same cancer,” Sadikovic said. “Currently they may receive the exact same therapy by being able to point to specific mutations that can be targeted by targeted therapies. One of the key things that’s already come out of this study is the evidence that patients that had access to this testing have access to better and alternate therapies.” He said identifying specific mutations can help doctors find targeted therapies that may be a better fit for an individual patient. The testing found a clinically relevant genetic change in 79 per cent of patients, meaning researchers identified a mutation that could potentially be targeted with a specific therapy. The results also opened the door to treatment options that had previously been unavailable, including clinical trials, off-label therapies and compassionate-access programs. Dr. Stephen Welch, a scientist with the LHSCRI and medical oncologist at LHSC, said the study included patients with a range of cancers who were looking for additional treatment options. “We’re in an age now of personalized medicine or precision medicine,” Welch said. “We’re trying to find unique characteristics of the cancer that we can target with specific drugs.” Welch said the study is also significant because it measured how genomic testing changed treatment decisions in a real-world Canadian setting. Researchers found the testing helped doctors identify safer treatment options for some patients and, in other cases, helped identify effective treatments earlier. The results also showed that genomic testing could influence the order in which treatments were given, helping doctors determine which therapy may be most appropriate and when it should be used. “Our team is building real-life evidence that this genomic testing is making a difference in the lives of patients with cancer and has a true positive impact on our health care system,” Welch said. The research team is continuing to track patients to better understand the long-term impact of expanded genetic testing on patient outcomes and the health-care system. The study was conducted through the Verspeeten Clinical Genome Centre and supported by a donation to the London Health Sciences Foundation from the late Archie and Irene Verspeeten.
