Targeting access

The American Society of Clinical Oncology and a group being organized by Medicare contractor Palmetto GBA plan to launch separate initiatives next year that will use registries to collect and disseminate evidence on personalized cancer treatments for rare mutations while facilitating access to off-label drugs. Success could lead to wider coverage and use of molecular diagnostics and targeted therapies, and evidence about the prevalence of tumors that are susceptible to targeted therapies.

The efforts also could provide insights into how well molecular diagnostics perform in the real world, including the ability of physicians to interpret test results...