NEW YORK – In 2024, Precision Medicine Online readers were most interested in stories tracking the implementation of personalized treatments and tests for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and rare conditions.
An annual survey tracking the investments US cancer centers and hospitals are making in precision oncology took the top spot in our most-read list. That survey showed on the positive side, for example, that many surveyed institutions were making the necessary investments to deliver precision oncology, like engaging a molecular tumor board to help oncologists interpret complex test results and decide on the right treatments for patients. On the negative side, the survey revealed that not all patients eligible for CAR T-cell therapies are receiving them, and those who are may have had to wait months to receive them.
Regardless of implementation barriers, the US Food and Drug Administration continued to approve many new cell and gene therapies in 2024, including the first two autologous cell therapies for solid tumors, Iovance Biotherapeutics' Amtagvi (lifileucel) in advanced melanoma and Adaptimmune's Tecelra (afamitresgene autoleucel) in previously treated, advanced synovial sarcoma. After Iovance's autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy made it through the FDA in February, readers were particularly interested in a report by Caroline Hopkins Legaspi, Precision Medicine Online senior reporter, on how the company was going to get this pricey, logistically complex treatment to patients and if other TIL therapies are following in Amtagvi's wake.
Readers also enjoyed reporter Catherine Shaffer's article on the long road to developing precision medicines for myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythemia associated with CALR mutations.
Outside of cancer, readers were eager to learn about the emerging market in Lp(a)-targeting cardiovascular drugs. More than 1 billion people globally are estimated to have elevated Lp(a), a type of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and an established risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Precision Medicine Online reporter Jessica Kim Cohen investigated how biopharma companies are approaching the so-called "Lp(a) hypothesis" in their randomized-controlled drug trials and looked into efforts to set up Lp(a) testing, which is currently not standard practice but is necessary for identifying patients eligible for Lp(a)-lowering drugs.
Our coverage of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference is always popular, and 2024 was no exception given important readouts from Vertex and Sarepta on their respective gene therapies for sickle cell and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Readers continued to show interest in all things liquid biopsy from ctDNA testing to multi-cancer early detection. And given FDA's laser focus throughout the year on bringing lab-developed tests under its oversight, including releasing a final rule on its plan to do so in April, readers were eager to read the details of why the agency had sent a warning letter to Agena Bioscience, taking issue with how it was selling and marketing its research-use iPLEX HS Colon Panel.
Here are the 10 most popular stories written by Precision Medicine Online reporters in 2024:
- Despite Investments, Barriers Limit Access to Cutting-Edge Oncology Treatments, Survey Suggests
- JP Morgan Healthcare Conference Day 1: Bristol Myers Squibb, Vertex, Sarepta, Novartis, and More
- Drugmakers Clamor to Prove 'Lp(a) Hypothesis' in Cardiovascular Disease
- NSCLC Patients Who Should Get First-Line EGFR Inhibitors Are on Immunotherapy Instead, Study Finds
- FDA Warning Letter to Agena Bioscience a 'Shot Across the Bow' for RUO-Labeled Diagnostics
- Precede Biosciences Wants to Prove PSMA Liquid Biopsy Can ID Patients for Pluvicto
- ROME Trial Shows Benefit of Tumor-Agnostic Targeted Therapy Guided by a Molecular Tumor Board
- Years After Genetic Finding, Drugs Targeting CALR-Mutant Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Enter Trials
- After Iovance's Amtagvi Approval, What's Ahead for TIL Therapy?
- New Multi-Cancer Detection Data Speak to Both Promises and Cautions of Blood-Based Assays