Cancer patients are being deprived of life-saving drugs due to lengthy delays in receiving crucial test results from overloaded NHS tumour-testing laboratories, according to an investigation by The Mail on Sunday. New cancer therapies that target the DNA of tumours can slow down or eliminate the spread of the disease, but before treatment can begin, a sample of the patient’s tumour must be tested to determine the most effective course of action. In an effort to ensure access to these innovative medicines, the NHS opened seven “genetic hubs” in 2021. However, these labs are struggling to keep up with the demand, resulting in some patients receiving their results too late, when their disease has already progressed too far to be treatable.
Rebecca Condie, a 40-year-old mother of four from Hampshire, diagnosed with incurable BRAF bowel cancer in 2022, faced a ten-week wait to find out if she could receive a life-extending drug. After chemotherapy failed, it took four weeks for Rebecca’s hospital to offer her a DNA test to determine her eligibility for the drug, and another six weeks for the genetic hub to deliver the results. Her sister, Anna, believes that these delays allowed the cancer to advance further, reducing the effectiveness of the new drugs. Cancer specialists are expressing concerns about the reliability and efficiency of the genetic hubs, with some opting to send tumour samples to labs in the US for faster results. Patients are supposed to receive their test results within ten days, but a report by the Office of Health Economics found that the average waiting time was closer to three weeks. Additionally, delays in sample transportation have resulted in many samples becoming unfit for testing upon arrival at the hubs.
The delays have had a devastating impact on patients with BRAF bowel cancer, who typically have a life expectancy of under a year. Helen Canning, spokeswoman for Breaking BRAF, a charity for patients with this aggressive genetic form of bowel cancer, stated that many of their members were waiting for as long as two months to find out if they were eligible for targeted treatments. Genetic testing has revolutionized cancer treatment by allowing researchers to identify specific genetic mutations and match them to precision drugs. However, the effectiveness of this technology relies on a swift and accurate testing system, which the current genetic hubs are failing to provide. Officially known as Genomic Laboratory Hubs, these facilities are located in London, Birmingham, Cambridge, Manchester, Bristol, and Newcastle. They were established during the pandemic but are still understaffed and unable to meet the demand for testing.
To address the issue, hospitals are considering setting up their own labs because they do not trust the existing hubs to deliver results in a timely manner. The situation urgently needs to be resolved, as the need for genetic testing will only increase with the discovery of new targeted drugs. An NHS spokesperson acknowledged the complexity of turnaround times for genomic testing, which depend on the urgency indicated by clinicians based on the patient’s needs.
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