A precision medicine study conducted by researchers from Intermountain Precision Genomics and Stanford University School of Medicine indicates that precision oncology may improve overall survival and lower healthcare costs for advanced cancer patients.

Lincoln D Nadauld, M.D., Precision Genomics Program, Intermountain Healthcare (Saint George, UT), and Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a study to determine the overall survival and health care costs associated with precision oncology in patients with advanced cancer.

Researchers utilized a matched cohort of 44 patients with metastatic cancer who received their care at a single institution from July 2013 through January 2015. Researchers compared data from 22 patients who received genomic testing and targeted therapy with data from 22 patients who received standard chemotherapy or best supportive care.

The study was published in the February issue of the cancer research journal Oncotarget.

The study found that the median overall survival of the precision medicine group was double that of those who did not receive targeted therapy. They also found that those who underwent precision therapy had about 7 percent lower healthcare-related costs in the last three months of life as compared to those who underwent standard therapy.

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