Guardant Health, Redwood City, Calif, is joining forces with leading patient advocacy groups to expand the Clear Your View initiative to raise awareness of the important role complete biomarker testing plays in guiding initial treatment decisions for newly diagnosed advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Current medical guidelines call for testing all six biomarkers in advanced CRC before starting treatment, yet more than 60% of patients are not receiving complete testing, which puts them at risk for inappropriate therapy.
Now in its second year, the Clear Your View campaign encourages oncologists to “stop, test, and wait” for complete biomarker testing results before starting first-line treatment. Last year, the campaign focused on improving biomarker testing rates in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which remains suboptimal at 20%, and garnered support from patient advocacy groups GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, LUNGevity Foundation, ALK Positive, and Lung Cancer Action Network.
Now the campaign expands its focus to colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death and third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the US, and garners support from Colorectal Cancer Alliance, Fight CRC, Global Colon Cancer Association, KRAS Kickers, and PALTOWN.
Targeted therapy matched to a patient’s genomic profile has been shown to significantly extend median overall survival rate for advanced CRC patients as well as NSCLC patients. Testing for all recommended biomarkers can help predict which patients are most likely to respond to a certain treatment and which will not respond, and is one of the best ways to ensure that the patient receives the best treatment from the start. For example, while over 60% of metastatic CRC patients have a biomarker that may predict poor response to anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody therapy, 72% of patients who received anti-EGFR therapy did not first complete guideline-aligned RAS and BRAF biomarker testing to determine eligibility—resulting in patients potentially receiving less efficacious, costly treatment. The growing number of targetable CRC biomarkers makes it imperative that all patients receive complete biomarker testing before starting first-line treatment.
“For patients with advanced colorectal cancer, time is of the essence and receiving the best treatment from the start is critical in extending progression-free survival,” says Andrew Spiegel, co-founder and executive director of the Global Colon Cancer Association. “We are proud to support the Clear Your View campaign and stand committed alongside Guardant Health, Colorectal Cancer Alliance, Fight CRC, KRAS Kickers, and PALTOWN to raising awareness and urgency around the importance of complete biomarker testing to improve survival for patients.”
“Incredible progress has been made in personalized treatments for advanced colorectal cancer, including not only medicines in clinical trials, but available FDA-approved medicines, yet too many patients are missing out on these potentially life-changing treatments due to suboptimal biomarker testing rates,” says Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health CEO. “Additionally, many patients are being treated with potentially less efficacious treatments. Through the expansion of the Clear Your View initiative, we join the colorectal cancer community in urging wider adoption of complete biomarker testing to help ensure the best treatments for all patients suffering from advanced cancer.”
The Clear Your View campaign is being delivered to oncologists nationwide. To learn more about the campaign and the importance of complete biomarker testing for all advanced NSCLC and CRC patients, visit Clear Your View.
