Study reveals missed opportunities for targeted cancer treatments

Angus Cheng covers all issues broadly related to cancer, including medicines, policy, science and stocks. She joined STAT in 2021 after covering health and science at NPR and NPR affiliate stations. His work has been recognized with the national Edward R. Murrow Award and the June L. Biedler Award for Cancer Journalism, among others. You can access Angus.08 on Signal.

For some advanced cancers, sequencing the tumor genome is one of the first steps patients and doctors take. But a new study finds that many patients do not have genomic testing and never have the chance to find out whether they would have benefited from newer, more targeted treatments.

The study, published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, looked at how many patients diagnosed with one of five different metastatic cancers had their cancer genetically sequenced. In this study, about half of the patients in the cohort underwent genetic sequencing for most cancers. Patients with low income, Medicare or Medicaid coverage, and black or Hispanic race or ethnicity were also less likely to undergo sequencing.

Cancer medicine and research have made great advances over the past few decades. The overall 5-year survival rate has increased to 70% in 2026, and the 5-year survival rate for metastatic cancer is double what it was in the 1960s. This is largely thanks to advances in medicines and technologies that help treat cancer, such as targeted therapies that work by exploiting the cancer’s key mutations.

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