Sep 16, 2026

The transition from outdated, one-size-fits-all standard-of-care cancer treatment to science-based personalized care cannot be left to physicians / health systems: it must be led by payers / employer plan sponsors who make critical coverage decisions
San Diego, California Sep 15, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - A new report from the nonprofit TPA Network Research Consortium explains why health insurers must bear much of the responsibility for changing how cancer is approached and treated. The first-in-a-series report details how payers can help drive this change by following the organization's Precision Medicine Protocol, a framework for supporting a more individualized approach to cancer care.
It is possible that as many as 80% of cancer patients in the United States receive suboptimal care, in large part because of the continued reliance on organ-based, one-size-fits-all clinical guidelines that do not adequately account for the variation among individual cancers. When treatment decisions are guided by these generalized approaches rather than by the unique characteristics of each patient's cancer, patients may receive toxic, high-cost regimens that offer limited or no clinical value. Instead, treatment should be more appropriately aligned with the biology of the disease it is intended to treat.
Precision medicine integrates modern genomics into cancer care, substantially deepening our understanding of the disease and transforming how it can be treated. Rather than relying on sameness-based, standard-of-care approaches, it uses each patient's unique molecular profile to guide the selection of therapies that are biologically matched to their cancer. This approach helps identify targeted and potentially effective drugs while eliminating treatments that are unlikely to provide clinical value. By avoiding ineffective therapies, precision medicine can reduce unnecessary toxicity and improve outcomes while containing cost. It is a conservative, more cautious and science-based approach to care -- one that stands in clear contrast to blindly following obsolete, pre-genomic-era treatment dogma.
Research Consortium founder Richard Nicholas, a 48-year healthcare industry veteran, believes that payers continue to perpetuate suboptimal cancer care because they have not made a meaningful commitment to precision medicine. In his view, that commitment is essential to ensuring that cancer treatment decisions better reflect the unique characteristics of each patient's cancer.
"Organ-based cancer treatment must be superseded, as it excuses decision-making based on incomplete knowledge. By contrast, precision medicine's science-based, look-before-you-leap treatment approach is actually a more conservative course of action versus blindly following obsolete pre-genomic era dogma.
"It is high time for payers and health plan sponsors to earnestly embrace precision medicine. To do otherwise would be to continue to deny patients access to vital genomic testing and the option to try potentially viable FDA-approved cancer drugs; essentially permitting continued wasteful spending on high-cost, low-clinical-value drugs" Richard L. Nicholas
Payers' Responsibility to Advance Precision Medicine
Comprehensive health care coverage is a cornerstone of effective cancer care; and coverage decisions shape access, quality, cost, and outcomes throughout the cancer journey, influencing everything from the initiation of treatment through long-term survivorship. When coverage decisions deny, delay, or disrupt access to care, they affect not only the treatment patients receive but also the outcomes they experience. Nicholas believes that because payers make coverage decisions, much of the responsibility for driving the transition to precision medicine rests with them. He reasons that responsibility cannot rest entirely with providers and health systems, which do not control coverage determinations. Payers must therefore earnestly embrace precision medicine and support coverage decisions that advance more effective cancer care, rather than continuing to accept ineffective treatments and wasteful spending on them.
A Practical Framework for Advancing Precision Medicine
To help health insurers and self-funded employers drive meaningful change, the nonprofit Research Consortium created a Precision Medicine Protocol as a practical framework for supporting more effective, individualized cancer care. This report, the first in a series on precision medicine, describes the protocol and explains how and why payers can support its use. It also examines how payers can promote cancer care that is better aligned with individual patient needs while addressing the quality, cost, and value considerations that shape coverage decisions. Later installments in the series will provide additional detail about the protocol, challenge conventional thinking about the cost and value of combination drug treatments and show payers how to gain greater control over oncology specialty-drug spending.
The report is available for download here.
Should you wish to learn more about how you can support our work, please click on this link to our new fundraising campaign, Advancing Personalized Cancer Care. Cancer patients everywhere will be glad you did.
About the TPA Network Research Consortium
The TPA Network Research Consortium is a non-profit, industry-wide healthcare research initiative that helps providers evaluate and assess new medical technologies and innovations, plan participants obtain leading-edge healthcare, scientists advance medical research, and payers reduce risk ... by conducting payer-focused translational research, in real-world settings. Visit ResearchConsortium.org

Media Contact
TPA Network Research Consortium, Ltd.
8583954114
555 Saturn Blvd, Suite B408
Source :TPA NETWORK RESEARCH CONSORTIUM LIMITED
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
Four-month event featured music, dance, Chinese opera, multi-arts programmes, films, exhibitions, lectures, artist talks and masterclasses.
The poet-turned-rapper tells Style about seeing Flo Rida perform in high school, and how All Eggs in the Basket is not just the name of her upcoming release but a mantra for life.
CNBlue hit the big time in 2010 after their song Loner became a huge hit, and 14 years on, they talk about their career and new mini album X.
The Southern California mind (me) cannot comprehend the concept of a Vermont autumn... View Entire Post ›
Plaintiffs in antitrust case over Hermès limiting ability to buy coveted bags to customers who purchase other items amend their complaint.
A Chanel ambassador since 2018, Robbie succeeds the likes of Nicole Kidman, Catherine Deneuve and Marion Cotillard as the face of the iconic fragrance.
I went on a quest to find worthwhile fall rituals. Here's what I found.
This year’s programme includes a drama ripped from Hong Kong headlines, a social satire in a near-future Japan and a modern romantic drama.
The youngest Pelosi’s 2022 documentary, Pelosi in the House, includes recordings she made of the January 2021 US Capitol attack – footage that was later used during an investigation into the riots
Talula, 22, shares a close bond with her father and recently launched her LA-based patisserie Talula’s Kitchen after studying at Le Cordon Bleu
Resourceful fashion designers make clothes and accessories using everything from wheels to seat belts, as carmakers focus on material reuse.
After marrying young, Sotomayor’s long work hours and success took a toll on her marriage; she and Noonan divorced amicably and each went on to have a highly successful career in law.
Selfie-snapping tourists have overwhelmed New England's leaf-peeping hot spots, causing dangerous traffic jams and concerns over visitor safety.
"I call it the dead dog state." View Entire Post ›
Those looking for a hidden gem unspoiled by crowds should look no further than the Pawnee Buttes, a pair of 300-foot tall rock formations in the grassy plains of northern Colorado.
STOCKHOLM, OCTOBER 14The Nobel memorial prize in economics was awarded Monday to three economists who have studied why some countries are rich and others poor and have documented t...
A sleepy mountain town in Colorado could soon be a serious rival to its more glamorous neighbor Aspen - where property prices are around 50 percent more expensive.
The property is located on the lane made famous by breadmaker Hovis's 1973 'Boy on Bike' commercial. The cobbled street is actually called Gold Hill and curves through Shaftesbury, Dorset.
Politicians from across the political spectrum are up in arms over healthcare giant Sanofi's plans to sell France's best-known medical drug Doliprane to US investors, a move critics say would lead to a "loss of sovereignty" for the country in a sensitive industry.
Airbnb's general manager for northern Europe and mother of two, Amanda Cupples, says: 'Budget is a top priority for parents, with over a third admitting it's their primary concern when planning a trip.'
After a painful breakup, the author travels to Provence for a language immersion homestay and learns the value of facing up to mistakes.
This year alone more than 360 thousand people will be diagnosed with breast cancer ... while many will die of it without being diagnosed at all. And yet if it is detected early, the 5-year relative survival rate of breast cancer stands at an incredible 99 percent. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we talk to oncologist Dr. Ines Vaz Luis to discuss the progress in fighting the disease and what more can be done.
As demon Kang Bit-na, Park Shin-hye struggles to control her body and emotions in The Judge from Hell as she sends murderers’ souls to hell.
Brantley Gilbert says he just had the ‘craziest night’ of his life after his wife Amber Cochran Gilbert went into labour during his show in Mississippi – so who is his wife of 9 years?
Dubbed Haven-1, the space station is much more modern and spacious than the ISS, with queen-size beds, a state-of-the-art gym, and maple wood interiors.
Last month, the Government introduced rules to deter parents from taking their children out of school for holidays and other unauthorised absences.
Winter resorts away from the crowds that should be on your radar, from a beachside hideaway in the Bahamas to an upscale Red Sea retreat.
Mary Serritella started pole dancing at 57. Fourteen years later she's inspiring others who are decades her junior.
Gene Simmons has been accused of making inappropriate comments about the female dancers on Dancing with the Stars of late, so who is his former Playboy Bunny wife Shannon Tweed?
Artist Tanya "Nena" Melendez on making her original hairpieces.
Raheem Mostert’s wife says she’s receiving hateful and racist comments on Instagram after supporting Ron DeSantis after he was blasted by Kamala Harris last week.
Halle Berry just revealed on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast she’s sceptical her ex-husband Eric Benét ever struggled with sex addiction while they were together.
This 1990s-set drama sees a group of women begin selling racy lingerie and adult toys door to door, shaking up their quiet rural town.
It's one of the most terrifying mythical creatures in history - a huge black dog with 'hellish' red eyes that haunts East Anglia. But does the 'Black Shuck' really exist?
Human desires, the comfort of family and friends, a sense of displacement among ideas conveyed by art on show at Shenzhen’s Mangrove Gallery.
Walking into Dujiangyan Zhongshuge is like traveling to a magical world thanks to its fascinating architectural style.
Mysterious white blobs have been washing up on beaches across Newfoundland for over a month, sparking an investigation by Canadian authorities.
Replica throne from HBO series among more than 30 lots that sold for in excess of US$100,000 at three-day auction in Dallas, Texas.
These unique formations, shaped by the ebb and flow of the tides, are a stunning sight set against the backdrop of autumn. Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province comes alive with one of nature's most captivating artworks – the "tidal trees" of the Qiantang River.
Jeremy's restaurant, Ikoyi, on the Strand in London, is ranked the 42nd best eaterie in the world. Jeremy told MailOnline at the menu launch: 'All the flavour combinations - it's all on me.'
YOUR NEWS, OUR NETWORK.
Do you have Great News you want to tell the world?
Be it updates about your business or your community, you can make sure that it’s heard by submitting your story to our network reaching hundreds of news sites across 6 verticals.