ASCO 2025 | How can we improve access to lung cancer molecular testing in Brazil?

In Brazil, we have, well I’m from Brazil, I have a lot of difficulty getting molecular testing because it’s not covered by insurance. So we have some industry-sponsored programs, we actually rely on them because many patients don’t have, they have insurance but they don’t have the money to pay for molecular tests, they’re very expensive in Brazil. Well, you have access to it, but since there’s access, and I know here, for instance in the US you have access via insurance. I just talk about education. You need to educate the doctors of course but I always say that we need to educate our patients as well because information is always around the globe, it’s just in the palm of your hand. So the patient that has lung cancer needs to understand that they need a test because many oncologists, well we have to practice with like 10, 12, 15 different diseases and sometimes it’s hard for you to remember that you have to test everyone. So, long story short, I think medical education, of course, to understand that patients, especially if you have a patient with a high risk, a high predictability of having a molecular alteration, this patient needs a test. And if the doctors don’t do it, we have to educate patients and they have to ask for it, hey doctor, are you not going to test me? And of course, we need broad testing. When we talk about these two alterations, EGFR-X1 insertions, especially PCR is not a very good test for it. NGS must be performed. You can lose up to 50% of EGFR-X1 insertions by PCR. So we need broad testing. You can make, you can do liquid biopsies, you can do tissue biopsies, but we need broad testing for patients to be receiving these options. And like I said, we have first-line trials. So if you just give chemotherapy to our patient, they are going to become ineligible for your trial. So it’s education, basically.

This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.