BioTheranostics, the San Diego-based company focused on cancer testing, has released a new study that suggests its test can significantly cut the cost of breast cancer care. The study, which appeared in the American Journal of Managed Care, concluded that breast cancer patients who underwent bioTheranostics’ breast cancer index (BCI) test had less costlier treatment regimens, reducing overall costs by about 8.5 percent on average. The BCI assay determines whether or not the patient has an estrogen receptor-positive/lymph node-negative form of cancer. Patients with that form of the disease tend to have better outcomes than other patients but are at a higher risk of recurrence after 10 years than patients who have other variants of breast cancer. They often require some additional treatments and follow-up care even after the cancer is considered to be in remission. According to the study, the use of the BCI—which focuses on the H/I biomarker and the molecular grade index—was able to better target and shape long-term treatment regimens for breast cancer, particularly with the use of endocrine therapy five years after diagnosis and later. “There is a critical need to identify which patients are likely to derive benefit from extended endocrine therapy, as consideration […]
BioTheranostics, the San Diego-based company focused on cancer testing, has released a new study that suggests its test can significantly cut the cost of breast cancer care.
The study, which appeared in the American Journal of Managed Care, concluded that breast cancer patients who underwent bioTheranostics’ breast cancer index (BCI) test had less costlier treatment regimens, reducing overall costs by about 8.5 percent on average.
The BCI assay determines whether or not the patient has an estrogen receptor-positive/lymph node-negative form of cancer.
Patients with that form of the disease tend to have better outcomes than other patients but are at a higher risk of recurrence after 10 years than patients who have other variants of breast cancer. They often require some additional treatments and follow-up care even after the cancer is considered to be in remission.
According to the study, the use of the BCI—which focuses on the H/I biomarker and the molecular grade index—was able to better target and shape long-term treatment regimens for breast cancer, particularly with the use of endocrine therapy five years after diagnosis and later.
“There is a critical need to identify which patients are likely to derive benefit from extended endocrine therapy, as consideration of adjuvant treatment beyond five years is increasing,” said Catherine Schnabel, bioTheranostics’ senior vice president of research and development.
As a result, those breast cancer patients who underwent the assay had median treatment costs of $41,634, compared to $45,437 among those patients whose care plan did not employ the test. That’s a difference of $3,803, including the cost of the BCI assay.
Researchers pegged the cost savings not only to the ability to better target chemotherapy and endocrine therapy but also to higher rates of compliance among patients, who presumably were more likely to follow a treatment course when armed with more specific information.
“In today’s cost-constrained environment, this study provides important clarity on the Breast Cancer Index’s economic impact,” said Gary Gustavsen, vice
president for personalized medicine at Health Advances and lead author of the study. “Given its utility in both newly diagnosed and five-year post-diagnosis patients, the test fills an unmet need in helping physicians determine the long-term management of these patients. Understanding the test’s economic savings will be important as third-party payors seek to establish medical policy surrounding the test.”
About 230,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Were the BCI employed as a part of every treatment regimen, it could save the health care industry as much as $876 million a year. Although such numbers are theoretical, they also comprise part of the “volume-to-value”
equation many industry observers say is the key to laboratories thriving in the long term.
Takeaway: Another laboratory with a molecular-based esoteric test is attempting to place an economic value on its assay in relation to health care delivery.
