Avalon CEO John Schneider spoke at the 6th Annual Latin American & Canada Clinical Laboratory Symposium, Cartagena, Columbia, October 16th and 17th. The title of his talk was “Economics of Cancer Biomarkers: Cost Effectiveness of HE4 in Clinical Decision Making
Dr. Schneider’s presentation focused on a conceptual framework for exploring the economic aspects of cancer biomarkers, focusing on how biomarkers can help optimally pair patients and with the most appropriate treatment strategy. The role of biomarkers and risk algorithms in the detection and treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer was discussed. Focus was on the novel biomarker HE4 and its role in the Risk of Malignancy Algorithm (ROMA). In his previous research, Dr. Schneider has found that the ROMA, which correctly classifies patient risk 94% of the time, results in lower overall treatment costs because the added accuracy of the best facilitates pairing of patients with optimal treatment. Although the direct costs of optimal treatment are generally higher, the total costs of an “episode” of ovarian cancer are lower when optimal treatment is received. Download Article