Pathways clinical decision support for appropriate use of key biomarkers

Abstract

Purpose Breast cancer diagnostics have the ability to predict disease recurrence and the benefit of chemotherapy. This study measures the use of a diagnostic assay, Oncotype DX, when embedded in a breast cancer decision support algorithm and, on the basis of the assay results, the use of chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting. Methods UPMC CancerCenter retrospectively reviewed patients with estroge n receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)Neu-negative disease with zero to three positive nodes navigated in the Via Pathways decision support portal during a 12-month period. The breast algorithm prompted input of the assay recurrence score (RS) and then recommended hormonal therapy alone (HT) for low RS, or chemotherapy followed byHT for high RS. The patient's RS was correlated with the treatment decision. Results During this time period, 643 patients had ER-positive, HER2Neu-negative disease with zero to three positive nodes. Of those, 596 (92.7%) had diagnostic testing to determine chemotherapy plusHT versus HTalone, and47 had chemotherapy followed by HT without an RS. For node-negative patients classified with low or high RS, pathway treatment adherence rates were 99.7% and 96.6%, respectively; node-positive patients had 95.7% and 87.5% adherence rates, respectively. Conclusion This analysis demonstrates the use of a clinical pathway to measure the adoption of a diagnostic test, the Oncotype DX breast assay, and the use of the appropriate therapy on the basis of the RS.Asmorediagnostics are established to aid in the personalized treatment of diseases, pathways may be important in maintaining clinician awareness of the appropriate disease presentations where these tests should be used, measuring usage of these tests, and tracking the treatment decisions on the basis of test results.