While precision medicine in cancer care is becoming more widespread, its rapid evolution in oncology requires ongoing discussion. ACCC’s podcast, CANCER BUZZ, features lively expert discussions about emergent issues in cancer care. Here we highlight some of those podcasts.
By evaluating the unique genetic makeup of specific individuals, precision medicine can enable clinicians to select the safest and most effective therapies for their patients. By using the tools of precision medicine—such as biomarker testing—physicians can diagnose cancer types and select treatment regimens with the most potential to successfully target an individual tumor’s specific mutations. While precision medicine in cancer care is becoming more widespread, its rapid evolution in oncology requires ongoing discussion.
ACCC’s podcast, CANCER BUZZ, features lively expert discussions about emergent issues in cancer care. Precision medicine and all of its implications are frequent topics. The following episodes feature new perspectives on precision medicine in cancer care:
- Biomarker Testing Advocacy: Biomarker testing is an important part of precision medicine; however, many commercial health plans and state Medicaid programs do not provide adequate coverage for these services. But recent legislative wins may mean things are changing. We speak to two healthcare advocates to discuss recent policy changes as they relate to biomarker testing.
- Precision Medicine Disparities: Authors of an ACCC/LUNGevity Foundation study that identifies key areas of clinician need related to biomarker testing in non-small cell lung cancer discuss the need for more knowledge about precision medicine guidelines, the practical applications of guideline-concordant testing, the importance of patient-clinician discussion and education, and access to appropriate clinical trials.
- Genetic Testing & Telehealth: Uncover common barriers to genetic counseling and biomarker testing for patients with cancer and learn how providers can help expand the use of testing and counseling delivered via telehealth to educate, inform, and improve patient care.
- What You Need to Know about Liquid Biopsy: Learn about the current clinical applications of liquid biopsies, their associated reimbursement issues, and what can be done to implement these tests at cancer programs and practices.
- Telehealth & Genetics During COVID-19: Explore how genetic healthcare services have adapted to virtual delivery and what challenges there are to the widespread use of telehealth medicine after the pandemic is over.
- The Promise of Bispecific Antibodies: The redirection of T cells against tumors holds significant promise for the treatment of cancer. Learn about promising breakthroughs, the challenges to widespread use, and what cancer teams need to know about the future of cancer treatment.
- Immunotherapy (IO) & Dermatology: Immune-related adverse events most often present on the skin for patients undergoing immunotherapy. Learn about dermatology’s role in the cancer care continuum and how cancer teams can better integrate dermatology into the IO care process.
- IO Clinical Trials During COVID-19: Learn how immunotherapy clinical trials have been affected by the pandemic and what cancer programs can do to conduct clinical trials safely and effectively during the pandemic.
- Immunotherapy & Mental Health: Learn how cancer care providers can better integrate mental health awareness into the immunotherapy care continuum and the mental health implications of treatment with cancer IO.
- Survivorship Care After Immunotherapy: Learn about the transition from immunotherapy to post-treatment survivorship, how immunotherapy differs from chemotherapy after treatment, and why coordination and communication among providers, patients, and caregivers is essential.
Listen to the CANCER BUZZ podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen with your smart home device. For instructions on how to listen with Alexa, click here, or just tell Alexa to "Play CANCER BUZZ." For Google Home instructions, click here.
Additional tools and resources available in ACCC’s Precision Medicine Library provide the cancer care team with comprehensive, trusted, and tangible resources that can inform their patient care decisions and help improve outcomes. From toolkits to webinars, the library features resources developed and curated by cancer care experts throughout the world.
These resources offer information for clinicians from pharmacists to oncologists on all aspects of precision medicine, giving providers essential knowledge to apply to patient care and help bring clarity to complex care decisions.
