Oncologist Confidence in Genomic Testing and Implications for Using Multimarker Tumor Panel Tests in Practice.

Area of Science:

• Precision oncology
• Genomic testing in cancer care
• Healthcare provider confidence

Background:

• Precision oncology relies on genomic testing for personalized cancer treatment.
• Understanding oncologists' confidence in genomic testing is crucial for its adoption.
• Current data on provider confidence with genomic testing is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess medical oncologists' confidence levels with various genomic testing platforms.
• To identify factors associated with oncologists' confidence in genomic testing.
• To examine the relationship between genomic confidence and the utilization of genomic tests.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 2017 National Survey of Precision Medicine in Cancer Treatment.
• Categorized oncologists based on their use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and gene expression (GE) tests.
• Employed multinomial logistic regression and multivariable linear regression to analyze predictors and associations.

Main Results:

• Over 75% of genomic test users reported moderate to high confidence in using results from multimarker tumor panels.
• Confidence varied by test type, with highest confidence in combined NGS/GE users and lowest in NGS-only users.
• Genomic confidence positively correlated with test use; training, patient volume, and solid tumor focus predicted higher confidence.

Conclusions:

• Oncologist confidence in genomic testing is influenced by testing platform, patient volume, training, and practice setting.
• Confidence is highest for panel tests and single-gene tests, and lowest for whole-genome/exome sequencing.
• Further research is needed to identify actionable strategies for improving provider confidence in genomic testing.