Florida-based physician Dr. Matthew Taub has been practicing hematology and oncology for more than 20 years. A member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), he maintains a strong belief in evidence-based oncology and medicine. This belief prompts Dr. Matthew Taub to follow guidelines set by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) whenever plausible.
An alliance of nearly 30 top cancer centers, the NCCN promotes effective, efficient, and high-quality cancer care. Toward this end, it regularly publishes news of advancements in cancer care in its official journal, Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN).
In the March 2019 issue of this publication, a recent study from Duke University revealed that genomic testing significantly reduced health care costs for patients who were at a high risk of breast cancer.
The study looked at data from more than 30,000 Medicare beneficiaries. These individuals were all between the ages of 66 and 75 and had been diagnosed with non-metastatic, ER-positive, invasive breast cancer. Of them, roughly 17.5 percent received genomic recurrence score (RS) testing, and the majority of those were categorized as intermediate-risk or high-risk patients. Following that were high-risk patients, who made up 17.2 percent of those who received RS testing.
Researchers also examined the medical costs associated with each patient based on his or her claims and Medicare adjustments. When compared to patients who did not undergo RS testing, those that did had about $6,600 less in health care costs. About half of that amount was attributable directly to the cost of chemotherapy.
