Improving Care in Early-Stage NSCLC: Optimizing Biomarker Testing, Treatment Planning, and Care Coordination-Improving Care in Early-Stage NSCLC_ Optimizing Biomarker Testing, Treatment Planning, and Care Coordination

Improving Care in Early-Stage NSCLC_ Optimizing Biomarker Testing, Treatment Planning, and Care Coordination

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This ACCC webinar focused on improving care coordination in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer, with emphasis on biomarker testing, treatment selection, and patient navigation. Speakers reviewed quality-improvement findings from four cancer centers, showing that only about half of eligible patients were discussed in tumor board settings, 59% received biomarker testing, and about one-third experienced delays of more than two months.<br /><br />Dr. Schiller explained why early-stage patients should receive comprehensive biomarker testing—at minimum EGFR, ALK, and PD-L1—before systemic therapy. She reviewed testing methods, including PCR, next-generation sequencing, FISH, RNA-based assays, and immunohistochemistry, highlighting the strengths and limitations of each. Dr. Lycan discussed how biomarker results guide perioperative treatment: EGFR-mutated disease may receive osimertinib, ALK-positive disease may receive alectinib, and biomarker-negative disease may be treated with neoadjuvant or perioperative chemoimmunotherapy. Jennifer Eversano described how nurse navigation supports timely workup, education, insurance coordination, and communication across multidisciplinary teams.<br /><br />In the Q&A, panelists stressed broad molecular profiling, multidisciplinary tumor board review, tissue-based testing as the gold standard, and individualized navigation needs for patients across disease stages.

Keywords

early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer

biomarker testing

tumor board review

treatment selection

patient navigation

molecular profiling

perioperative therapy

multidisciplinary care coordination

osimertinib alectinib