WHO ARE WE?

We are a multi-sectoral alliance to bring full access to comprehensive molecular testing by offering Next-generation Seguencing (NGS) testing availabilit to the Puerto Rico medical communit who are directly involved in most areas of the oncology patient’s journey.

The alliance will provide awareness and most importantly access to NGS testing across all tumors and promote important referrals of patients to target physicians prior and after surgery and/or biopsy. One of the goals of this initiative is to create a call to action to healthcare providers to increase demand of NGS testing allowing the selection of targeted treatment opportunities earlier.

RATIONAL

As defined bv the Nationa Cancer Institute. “Targeted cancer therapies are drugs or other substances that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules (“molecular targets”) that are involved in the growth, progression, and spread of cancer. Targeted cancer therapies are sometimes called “molecularly targeted drugs,” “molecularly targeted therapies,” “precision medicines,” or similar names.

Targeted therapies are currently the focus of much anticancer drug development. They are cornerstone of precision medicine, a form of medicine that uses Information about a person’s genes and proteins to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. There are several different molecular testing technologies available in the market. however targeted Next-generation Seguencing (NGS) provides the advantage to include a large- scale DNA/RNA sequencing of the entire human genome to enable rapid identitication of common and rare genetic variation. These tests can be performed to identify specific alterations that may drive the behavior of cancer. This information may help physicians optimize a course of treatment based on the patient’s unique cancer.

Some of the major known challenges to NGS testing in Puerto Rico are:

        • Access and /or managed care organization authorizations
        • Availabilitv, guality, and turnaround time
        • Lack of standardization in NGS techniques
        • General limited nearncare awareness
        • Annual conference for physicians and HCP

OBJECTIVES

Some of the major known barriers to NGS testing are:

    • Cost. Access and/or managed care organization approvals
    • Avallability, Quality, and turnaround time of NGS testing
    • General lack of awareness

The alliance will provide awareness and access to NGS testing across tumors, and promote important referrals of patients to target physicians prior and after surgery

    Create a call to action to healthcare providers to increase demand of NGS testing allowing targeted treatment opportunities to help improve patient outcomes

      Create a databank for most incidence/
      prevalence of molecular abnormalities among oncology patient population in Puerto Rico based on real world evidence

        References

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