Point of Care Liquid Biopsy for Cancer Treatment-Early Experience from a Community Center.

Liquid biopsy is rapidly becoming an indispensable tool in the oncologist's arsenal; however, this technique remains elusive in a publicly funded healthcare system, and real-world evidence is needed to demonstrate utility and feasibility. Here, we describe the first experience of an in-house point of care liquid biopsy program at a Canadian community hospital. A retrospective review of consecutive cases that underwent plasma-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) was conducted.

Regionalization and Outcomes of Lung Cancer Surgery in Ontario, Canada.

Purpose Regionalization of complex surgery to high-volume hospitals has been advocated based on cross-sectional volume-outcome studies. In April 2007, the agency overseeing cancer care in Ontario, Canada, implemented a policy to regionalize lung cancer surgery at 14 designated hospitals, enforced by economic incentives and penalties. We studied the effects of implementation of this policy.

Surgery and Surgical Consult Rates for Early Stage Lung Cancer in Ontario: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Surgery offers the best chance for survival for early (stage I and II) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but worldwide resection rates range from 49% to 77%. We investigated factors that may play a role in resection rates.

Methods: Using administrative data, new diagnoses of NSCLC from 2010 through 2012 were captured.