Foundation Medicine, Inc. today announced it has awarded two grants to organizations working to address disparities in biomarker testing for breast and prostate cancer following its open call for grants in April 2024. Foundation Medicine requested proposals that included collaboration between two separate organizations, recognizing that addressing disparities in oncology care requires multi-stakeholder partnerships.
The 2024 grant recipients are:
- Living Beyond Breast Cancer and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson Health for No One Missed: Grassroots Pilot for Under-Resourced Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients, which aims to determine factors (behavior, attitudes, communication practices, and norms) that motivate newly diagnosed, under-resourced, metastatic breast cancer patients living in Philadelphia to more fully participate in biomarker testing and shared decision-making. The pilot program will conclude in mid-2025.
- Patient Advocate Foundation and ZERO Prostate Cancer for A Patient-Focused Partnership to Advance Health Equity in Biomarker Testing among Patients with Prostate Cancer, which will establish a Prostate Cancer Biomarker Education Patient Advisory Group with the aim to address the unmet needs of Black men who face unique challenges in prostate cancer care, including mistrust of the healthcare system, lack of information and financial barriers. The program will conclude by the end of 2025.
“With each new advancement, we can push cancer care forward and bring the promise of precision medicine to more people, but we can also inadvertently exacerbate gaps in education, awareness and access to genomic testing for others,” said Mia Levy, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer at Foundation Medicine. “At Foundation Medicine, we’re committed to making cancer care more equitable for all patients living with advanced cancer. But we cannot address these disparities alone, which is why we’re proud to collaborate with our partners in the oncology community to remove the barriers to accessing personalized cancer care in breast and prostate cancer.”
Precision therapies, driven by actionable biomarkers, represent advances and hold promise for people diagnosed with cancer.1 However, well-documented barriers to equitable cancer care exist in many areas, including inequitable access to genomic testing.2,3 This year’s grants build on Foundation Medicine’s continued commitment to closing gaps in access to cancer care. In 2022, Foundation Medicine awarded Moffitt Cancer Center and LUNGevity a grant to address disparities in biomarker testing within the lung cancer community.
About Foundation Medicine: Your Essential Partner in Cancer Care
Foundation Medicine is a pioneer in molecular profiling for cancer, working to shape the future of clinical care and research. We collaborate with a broad range of partners across the cancer community and strive to set the standard for quality, scientific excellence, and regulatory leadership. Our deep understanding of cancer biology helps physicians make informed treatment decisions for their patients and empowers researchers to develop new medicines. Every day, we are driven to help our partners find answers and take action, enabling more people around the world to benefit from precision cancer care. For more information, please visit us on www.FoundationMedicine.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.
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1 Schwaederle M, Zhao M, Lee JJ, et al. Association of biomarker-based treatment strategies with response rates and progression-free survival in refractory malignant neoplasms: a meta-analysis. JAMA Oncol. 2016;2(11):1452-1459. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.2129
2 Polite BN, Adams-Campbell LL, Brawley OW, et al. Charting the future of cancer health disparities research: a position statement from the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the National Cancer Institute. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017; 67(5):347-431. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21404
3 L.E.K. interviews and analysis FMI-purchased Kantar data, SEER, MedPanel ‘Assessment of Market for Pan- Cancer Testing Wave 2’, IMS Health Medical Claims Data (DX) dataset (April 2015 to Dec 2016)
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