The data relating to the genetic mutations of cancer patients treated in our country have been published for the first time. This is Rational (The Italian Register of Actionable Mutations) and is based on a study involving over 730 men and women, affected by various forms of cancer, being treated at 44 centres. In total, 45% of patients have specific mutations for which there are drugs already approved by the Italian regulatory body, or in the experimental phase. But only 11% of them manage to get treatment. The study was conducted under the aegis of Ficog (Federation of Italian Cooperative Oncology Groups) and the results are published in the European Journal of Cancer.
The aim of the new survey is also to photograph the Italian situation with respect to the use of new generation genetic sequencing (NGS) tests. They are tests that “allow a better identification of all the mutations of a tumor and which therefore favor access to new molecular drugs – underlines Nicola Normanno, director of the Translational Research department of the Pascale National Cancer Institute of Naples and scientific director of the study – However, their use is still low, especially that of tests with ‘large panels'”.
It is also very interesting, he underlines, “to have identified the presence of mutations that can be associated with a risk of certain neoplasms. From these it is possible to start a preventive activity by subjecting the patient’s family members to genetic tests capable of highlighting the possible development of an oncological pathology”.
However, a critical point emerges from the data: only 11% of patients who have obtained genomic profiling are then able to receive the targeted therapies available. This “focuses on an increasingly relevant problem today – says Carmine Pinto, president of Ficog – or how to guarantee access to off-label drugs on the basis of a molecular alteration. A reference indication from Aifa is necessary. precision oncology is now a consolidated reality in the fight against many tumors and the Italian health system can be at the forefront in this sector too but there is a need as soon as possible – he concludes – for new rules to improve the prospects of the sick”.
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