Clinical POC Workflow Boosts Testing Rates in Patients With PDAC

While germline testing (GT) is recommended for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), many patients do not undergo testing, and clinical infrastructures are limited in addressing the needs of this patient population.

Kelsey Lau-Min, MD, MSCE, and colleagues have developed and tested a clinical point of care (POC) workflow at an academic medical center to determine how the system can benefit from routine clinical practice for patients with PDAC.

The researchers organized 1053 patients into a clinical POC cohort. The percentage of eligible patients who underwent GT was calculated for each cohort, while Wilcoxon rank-sum and Pearson’s chi-squared tests were used to compare patients in each cohort who did and did not undergo GT.

The research POC cohort included 905 patients, of which 694 (76.7%) underwent GT. The clinical POC cohort included 148 patients, and 126 (85.1%) underwent GT. In the research POC cohort, patients who underwent GT were significantly younger (median age, 67.0 vs 70.9 years; P=.031) and more likely to be White (82.1% v 68.7%; P<.001).

Patients in the POC cohort were also more likely to be commercially insured (41.8% vs 28.0%; P<.001). No significant differences were noted between GT groups in the clinical POC cohort.

Surveys completed by oncology clinicians found the clinical POC model to be acceptable (mean, 4.4/5), appropriate (4.6/5), feasible (4.0/5), and have a positive impact on patients (4.9/5).

With an >85% GT rate, a clinical POC model can boost testing regularity among patients with PDAC.