Physician justification for anti-cancer treatment decisions in the evolving oncology market.

Abstract

e23317 Background: Oncology is a rapidly expanding pharmaceutical space, driven by innovative research and clinical technology. Continued growth in anti-cancer therapy has generated an exceedingly competitive market. As treatment options increase, physicians must weigh a variety of factors to make individualized care decisions. Many elements are patient-specific, but physician biases may also impact selection. As the market evolves, it is unknown whether oncology providers will shift priorities to align with contemporary findings or continue to trust in historical experiences. Methods: The Ipsos Global Oncology Monitor is an online, multi-center medical chart review of oncology patients receiving drug therapy. Over 1,900 cancer-treating physicians in the United States were screened for seniority and caseload and submitted data on 253,051 cancer patients (aggregate; all tumor types) between January 2020 to December 2023. Upon record submission, physicians were prompted to select up to three responses most associated with the reason for prescribing the reported therapy. Responses were chosen from a finite list of closed-ended options. Results: Influence of “Approved Standard of Care” fell amongst sampled physicians, cited as a reason for selecting treatment in 61% of reported annual patients in 2023, declining by 2.94 percentage points since 2020. “Biomarker results” recorded increased influence on therapy selection, rising in association with 8% of reported patients in 2020 to 11% in 2023. Within tumor-specific cohorts, “Maintain/improve quality of life” was a notable reason for drug therapy decisions in both breast and colorectal cancer patient subsets in 2023 (10% and 19% respectively). Contrary to the overall patient cohort, drug therapy choice for reported prostate cancer patients has increasingly shown association with “Approved Standard of Care” (53% in 2020 to 60% in 2023). Conclusions: Results of this study highlight the evolution of factors influencing anti-cancer treatment decisions in sampled physicians. Sampled providers appear to be shifting away from universal treatments, as shown by lowered association with “Approved Standard of Care”. Sampled physicians seem to be opting for specific therapies, demonstrated by rising influence of “Biomarker results”. Discrepancies between tumors merit expansion of research in rarer indications and emphasize the importance of diagnostic testing to continue improving quality of care. Further investigation using comparator cohort is warranted.