Dr John Fox Discusses Expanding Comprehensive Genomic Profiling Across Several Cancers

John Fox, MD, MHA, vice president of cinical transformation at Spectrum Health, reacts to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's (NCCN's) call to expand comprehensive genomic testing across several cancers.

Transcript

At the most recent NCCN Annual Meeting, guidelines called for expanded comprehensive molecular profiling across several cancers. Do these changes present new reimbursement challenges?

The NCCN has recommended that we do comprehensive molecular profiling on more and more cancer types. It’s fascinating because the cost of genomic profiling is now in the range of $2500 to $3000. If you look at the cost of the therapies we’re using, they may be, if you’re using a monoclonal antibody, $8000, $10,000, $15,000 a month, and if we’re using those in combination, it’s even more. So, if in fact those molecular profiles help better identify which patients are likely to respond to which therapies, it’s a good value, because they’re spending thousands, tens of thousands of dollars a month on treatment, that if ineffective, is a waste of dollars and a waste of resources and a cost to the patient.