Personalisierte Medizin bei Lungenkrebs am Beispiel des nationalen Netzwerks Genomische Medizin

Personalized lung cancer therapy improves the prognosis of many patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) substantially. Demonstration of driver mutations in tumor tissue and the availability of targeted drugs constitute the basis of personalized therapy. For around two thirds of NSCLC patients, such personalized therapies now exist. In view of the impressive dynamics in the field, access of all patients to state-of-the-art molecular diagnostics and targeted therapy remains a challenge, particularly in the decentralized German health care system. The national Network Genomic Medicine (nationales Netzwerk Genomische Medizin, nNGM) Lung Cancer has established a new workshare between currently 28 nNGM centers responsible for centralized molecular next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based diagnostics, clinical recommendation, counseling and central evaluation, and around 500 regional network partners conducting treatment for the majority of the patients. This model may be considered as paradigmatic for the implementation of personalized cancer care, in particular in view of a recent external evaluation on behalf of the AOK demonstrating a significant overall survival benefit for patients within the nNGM compared to matched controls.