OBJECTIVES: Due to increased understanding in cancer biology, precision oncology has become a cornerstone in cancer treatment. A number of biomarkers have been used to improve the efficacy of oncology therapies and thus, have had an impact on resource utilization and expenditure worldwide. The Chilean healthcare system has not been immune to these trends. This study aimed to evaluate the precision oncology trends in the Chilean health system using Real-World Data.

METHODS: All data were obtained from public repositories. The list of biomarker/drug pairs was obtained from FDA database and matched with the drugs available in Chile. The list of drugs approved drugs was obtained from the ISP (Institute of Public Health) database by active ingredient and classified by year of registration. CENABAST database was used to obtain data on the purchase of drugs with associated biomarkers. Expenditure on biomarker testing was obtained from FONASA (National Health Fund) database.

RESULTS: The number of drugs with biomarkers has been increased exponentially after 2000. In 2021, 74 oncology drugs with at least one associated biomarker were available. Drug purchasing in CENABAST has increased across the years, reaching 129 purchases in 2021, with an associated expenditure of $41,454,040 USD (0.8% of the total CENABAST expenditure). Finally, expenditure on PCR-specific testing for tumor markers through MLE-FONASA in 2021 was USD$ 23,257 (seven-fold compared to 2019 expenditure).

CONCLUSIONS: Resource utilization related to precision oncology increased dramatically after 2010, as described by CENABAST purchases and FONASA expenditure. Increasing availability of Real-World Data may allow the evaluation of the impact of biomarker-specific drugs on health outcomes within the Chilean healthcare system.