Overview of Molecular Diagnostics in Irish Clinical Oncology

Molecular diagnostics are critical for informing cancer patient care. In Ireland, the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) develops cancer therapy regimens, which include relevant information on molecular indications. Here, we present a collated overview of the current molecular indications of all NCCP systemic anti-cancer therapy regimens and the funding statuses of their associated drugs. Furthermore, we also provide estimates for the scale of required molecular testing in cancer therapy and for the clinical genetic sequencing capacity of Ireland, and provide a summary of current cancer clinical trials in Ireland which have molecular components.

Through a combination of web scraping, keyword search, and manual review, we performed a full review of all 856 indications included in the 533 therapy regimens published to date by the NCCP to identify therapy indications with explicit molecular criteria. For all cancer types identified in these indications, we obtained incidence rates in Ireland from National Cancer Registry Ireland to predict the number of patients yearly who stand to benefit from a molecular test. We then applied molecular subtype rates from published literature to estimate the number of patients who would then qualify for a relevant molecularly guided therapy.

We identified 246 indications for 175 NCCP therapy regimens that include molecular criteria. These 246 molecular indications encompassed 101 genetic criteria, 161 cellular biomarker criteria, 63 molecularly informed drugs, and over 20 cancer types. We estimated that up to approximately 55% of cancer patients in Ireland could qualify for a molecular test and that the majority of tested patients would qualify for a treatment informed by a molecular test.

As personalised cancer medicine continues to develop in Ireland, this study will provide a baseline understanding of current practices. We anticipate that work such as this will help to inform planning in the healthcare system.