Descriptive epidemiological study of rare, less common and common cancers in Western Australia.

BACKGROUND: There are no epidemiological studies describing rare cancers in Western Australia (WA). We aimed to fill this gap by estimating the incidence and five-year survival of rare, less common and common cancers in WA, based on definitions for rarity used by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and cancer groupings from the project on Surveillance of Rare Cancers in Europe (RARECARE). This research will enable policy- and decision-makers to better understand the size and nature of the public health problem presented by rare cancers in WA. It is anticipated that this study will inform improved health service design and delivery for all WA cancer patients, but particularly those with rare and less common cancers. METHODS: We estimated incidence and five-year survival rates of rare, less common and common cancers in WA using data sourced from the WA Cancer Registry for the 2013-2017 period. Cancers were defined as rare (< 6), less common (6-12), or common (> 12) based on their crude incidence rate per 100,000 people per year. RESULTS: Rare cancers make up 21.5% of all cancer diagnoses in WA, with a significantly poorer five-year survival of 58.2% (95% confidence interval (CI) 57.3-59.1%), compared to patients diagnosed with a common cancer, whose five-year survival was 87.8% (95% CI 87.3-88.3%). Survival for less common cancers was significantly poorer than both rare and common cancers, at 48.1% (95% CI 47.3-49.0%). Together, rare and less common cancers represent 48.4% of all cancer diagnoses in WA. CONCLUSIONS: While rare cancers are individually scarce, collectively over one in five cancer patients in WA are diagnosed with a rare cancer. These patients experience significantly worse prognoses compared to patients with common cancers.

Optimizing Precision Medicine for Public Health.

Advances in precision medicine have presented challenges to traditional public health decision-making paradigms. Historical methods of allocating healthcare funds based on safety, efficacy, and efficiency, are challenged in a healthcare delivery model that focuses on individualized variations in pathology that form the core of precision medicine. Public health policy and decision-making must adapt to this new frontier of healthcare delivery to ensure that the broad public health goals of reducing healthcare disparities and improving the health of populations are achieved, through effective and equitable allocation of healthcare funds. This paper discusses contemporary applications of precision medicine, and the potential impacts of these on public health policy and decision-making, with particular focus on patients living with rare diseases and rare cancers. The authors then reconcile these, presenting precision public health as the bridge between these seemingly competing fields.

Genomic Testing for Human Health and Disease Across the Life Cycle: Applications and Ethical, Legal, and Social Challenges.

The expanding use of genomic technologies encompasses all phases of life, from the embryo to the elderly, and even the posthumous phase. In this paper, we present the spectrum of genomic healthcare applications, and describe their scope and challenges at different stages of the life cycle. The integration of genomic technology into healthcare presents unique ethical issues that challenge traditional aspects of healthcare delivery. These challenges include the different definitions of utility as applied to genomic information; the particular characteristics of genetic data that influence how it might be protected, used and shared; and the difficulties applying existing models of informed consent, and how new consent models might be needed.

Healthcare System Priorities for Successful Integration of Genomics: An Australian Focus.

This paper examines key considerations for the successful integration of genomic technologies into healthcare systems. All healthcare systems strive to introduce new technologies that are effective and affordable, but genomics offers particular challenges, given the rapid evolution of the technology. In this context we frame internationally relevant discussion points relating to effective and sustainable implementation of genomic testing within the strategic priority areas of the recently endorsed Australian National Health Genomics Policy Framework. The priority areas are services, data, workforce, finances, and person-centred care. In addition, we outline recommendations from a government perspective through the lens of the Australian health system, and argue that resources should be allocated not to just genomic testing alone, but across the five strategic priority areas for full effectiveness.