NEW YORK – McKesson, a provider of healthcare supply chain solutions, on Thursday announced the launch of the MYLUNG Study, in which a diverse group of collaborators will investigate the real-world barriers non-small cell lung cancer patients face in receiving molecular testing and precision treatment.
The study will be conducted within a consortium, which will include McKesson-supported organizations: the US Oncology Network, US Oncology Research, and the technology and healthcare insights business Ontada. Amgen, Eli Lilly, and Mirati Therapeutics are also collaborating in the effort, as are 10 community oncology practices, including Illinois Cancer Specialists, New York Oncology Hematology, and Southern Cancer Center. Other collaborators will join the consortium in coming months, according to McKesson.
Within MYLUNG, which stands for "Molecularly Informed Lung Cancer Treatment in a Community Cancer Network: A Pragmatic Consortium," researchers aim to enroll approximately 12,000 metastatic NSCLC patients over five years into three protocols. In the first protocol, researchers will review real-world data on 3,500 patients collected within Ontada's iKnowMed electronic health records and identify standard molecular testing practices across the community cancer care setting.
In the second protocol, researchers will follow the experiences of 1,000 NSCLC patients from 10 community practices as they receive care, focusing on if they received molecular testing and if their care was personalized based on the results. Enrollment has already begun in this phase. In the third protocol, researchers will enroll 7,500 NSCLC patients from 20 practices over five years, aiming to prospectively explore strategies for improving testing and treatment access.
"During the study and after, we hope that the interventions and our understanding of NSCLC improve, and we see increased testing and appropriate use of targeted therapies — all of which we hope will improve cancer care and patient outcomes," Makenzi Evangelist, physician lead for the study and an oncologist at New York Oncology Hematology, said in a statement.