Lauren Ritterhouse, MD, PhD

The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has revolutionized the way we approach and utilize molecular diagnostic testing in oncology.

Drs. Geoffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse discuss the challenges in biomarker testing—tissue stewardship and complexity of biomarker tests and results—and ways to overcome these challenges—improved communication among all members of the cancer care team and simplification of biomarker test results to focus on actionable biomarkers.

Drs. Geoffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse deliberate on ways reimbursement issues are impacting clinical practice, particularly CMS’s “14-Day Rule.”

Drs. Geoffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse consider the current landscape of reimbursement for molecular biomarker testing, the need to run FDA-approved tests, and the role of CMS and local Medicare providers in testing reimbursement.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse review the best practices to improve efficiencies in biomarker testing, including effective communication among the healthcare team, the pathologist, and the patient, as well as expediting processing in the pathology laboratory.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse consider the advantages and disadvantages of liquid biopsies as an early screening tool for biomarker testing, and how to integrate various approaches into a biomarker testing paradigm.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse discuss the need for validation and standardization of Tumor Mutational Burden to make it a robust biomarker, in conjunction with PD-L1, in selecting immunotherapy for their lung cancer patients.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse consider how next-generation sequencing (NGS) informs treatment of lung cancer patients in providing information on tumor mutational burden, microsatellite instability, unique targetable genomic signatures, as well as novel targets that may be best addressed in a clinical trial.

Drs. Goeffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse review how the results of PD-L1 testing influence the choices in first- or second-line immunotherapy or combination immunochemotherapy in patients with squamous or non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer.

Drs. Geoff Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse discuss PD-1/PD-L1 as a routine biomarker test run on all lung cancer biopsy specimens, as well as on other selected cancer types, and how qualitative and quantitative results are typically reported.

Drs Geoffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse discuss the challenges and opportunities of precision medicine and molecular biomarkers in their clinical practice from an oncologist’s and a pathologist’s perspective.

Drs Geoffrey Oxnard and Lauren Ritterhouse discuss the best ways oncologists and pathologists can communicate about molecular biomarker testing for individual patients as well as on strategies for incorporating new biomarkers into testing panels.