Importance of clinical decision making in precision oncology: Discordance in recommendation between next generation sequencing test vendor and molecular tumour board in India.

Abstract

e15050 Background: Molecular tumour boards (MTB) facilitate discussions among medical professionals, scientists, bioinformaticians and geneticists for clinical application of precision oncology, via interpretation of various genomic sequencing studies, most commonly Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). NGS test vendor recommendation may differ from the MTB recommendations. We aim to study the discordance rate between these recommendations. Methods: MTB discussions between April 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021, were retrospectively evaluated. MTBs which assessed NGS reports with or without significant genetic mutations but with drug recommendations were included. NGS testing was done with multiple vendors. Patients from all over India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi were discussed. We excluded MTBs which assessed NGS data without any drug recommendations. We compared therapeutic recommendations provided in the NGS report with the first-choice recommendation in the MTB discussion. Recommendation discordance was defined as disagreement between the NGS recommendation and the first MTB recommendation that either instructed its implementation either immediately or on disease progression. Results: 70 MTB data was studied. 49 MTBs assessing NGS reports of 49 unique patients (median age 54 years; range, 32-82) were included in the study. 13 patients had lung cancer, 10 colorectal, 6 breast, 7 hepatopancreatobiliary, 4 carcinoma of unknown primary and 9 others. 17 did not provide any treatment recommendations and hence were excluded. 4 were discussions based on NGS reports previously discussed in an MTB that was already included in the study, hence were excluded. Recommendation discordance rate was 49% (24 of 49). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study that assessed discordance rate in recommendations between NGS report and MTB from a low- and middle-income country setting. Accurate clinical translation of complex genomic data is at the forefront of personalized cancer care.