Precision medicine (PM) uses information about a patient’s genetic profile and environment to better prevent, treat, and predict disease. Next generation sequencing technologies are set to change the cancer landscape through gene discovery, with patients and families confronted with the possibility of receiving tens or even hundreds of clinically relevant results.
Data access has recently been approved for a study led by Dr. Dean Regier, an Assistant Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia and scientist at the BC Cancer Agency, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of BC's Personalized Onco-Genomics Program, a clinical trials program which applies whole genome and transcriptome analysis to identify treatment options for advanced or incurable cancers.
“The Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) program of British Columbia is a leader in precision oncology for patients with incurable cancers,” says Dr. Regier. “This project will help us begin to understand the health care system impact of POG. In particular, we will look at the effectiveness of POG-guided care compared to its cost.”
Regier’s project aims to generate methods on early value assessment of PM and provide insight into the economic efficiency of whole genome sequencing in oncology for use by both Canadian and international policymakers. Results from this project will inform the translation of genomic knowledge into the application of PM and aid in determining PM’s impact on patients and the healthcare system.
The project is funded by the BC Personalized Onco-Genomics Program, the BC Cancer Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC).
PopData will link BC Ministry of Health data with PharmaNet and BC Cancer Agency data for the project.
