The future of oncology care hinges on the implementation of new sciences, the collaboration of researchers, and timeliness with which healthcare professionals can integrate change into practice, according to a new report released by Lancet Oncology.

Lancet Oncology recently convened a commission to analyze and bolster the National Cancer Advisory Board’s Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations for the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. The commission’s report provides detailed, timely recommendations for how to implement the Blue Ribbon Panel’s moonshot recommendations to spur advancement in cancer research and treatment. The commission also added further recommendations with a focus on radiation oncology, surgical oncology, regulation and finance, and access to care.

“We have a roadmap,” Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD, Lancet Oncology commission co-chair, said in a video interview. “A roadmap based on the Blue Ribbon Panel’s report, but thought out by a lot of stakeholders around the country, and we hope the research community embraces this as a template to begin to think about how you do research and bring what you to the community and patients.”

The roadmap includes comments and implementation recommendations for the following topics:

  • Precision cancer prevention
  • Early detection and public health
  • Drug discovery and development
  • Precision tumor assessment
  • Expediting patient access to new drugs with expanded clinical trials
  • Immunotherapy
  • Pediatric oncology
  • Supportive oncology, including symptom management
  • Radiation oncology
  • Nuclear medicine and imaging
  • Surgical oncology
  • Data-sharing and big data analysis
  • Health disparities and access to care

Funding Future Change

After the 21st Century Cures Act passed in 2016, nearly $2 billion were earmarked for cancer research and precision medicine through the next seven years. In this new report, the Lancet experts, including ONS member and Blue Ribbon Panel participant Deborah K. Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN®, FAAN, work to craft instructions for implementation and included recommendations for where federal funds could be focused over the next seven years.

Some of the topics designated as priorities in the report also included access to care, financial toxicity, and the value of funding cancer research. ONS will continue to work at a local, state, and federal level to support the numerous Cancer Moonshot initiatives, providing the insight and expertise of oncology nurses everywhere.