Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Precision oncology in practice: Identifying support needs among Australian medical oncologists (142916)

Shuang Liang 1 , Subotheni Thavaneswaran 2 3 4 , Elizabeth Kennedy 1 , Elijah Tyedmers 1 , Skye McKay 1 , Stephanie C Walker 1 , David Goldstein 2 5 , Frank Lin 2 4 5 , Natalie Taylor 1
  1. Implementation to Impact (i2i), School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Medical Oncology, The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  5. Medical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital , Sydney, NSW, Australia

Aims: Precision oncology is increasingly integrated into routine cancer care, informing diagnosis and treatment selection. This study evaluates Australian oncologists’ current experiences and resource requirements relating to precision oncology, particularly around multidisciplinary support to inform evidence-based integration into routine cancer care.

Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional online survey commenced in May 2026. Eligible participants were registered medical oncologists in Australia managing adult solid tumour patients in public and/or private settings. The survey was adapted from a national survey conducted in 2021 and included questions on demographics, clinical practice, molecular tumour board (MTB) engagement, communicating results, genomic profiling reports, therapeutic decision-making, and resource needs. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise responses.

Results:  Preliminary analysis of the first 20 oncologists from our ongoing survey indicates strong ability to access genomic testing (100%) through public, private, or research pathways, and 85% of oncologists can access an MTB for case discussion. Thus far, commonly reported barriers to precision oncology implementation were limited drug access (75%) and time constraints (55%). The median levels of confidence to discuss both therapeutically actionable findings and genomic profiling results were 8.0/10, while confidence to discuss germline findings was lower (6.5/10), consistent with prior evidence. Challenges of procuring targeted therapies outside clinical trials have also been highlighted (6.5/10). Early data indicate that clinicians need clinical trial matching support (84.2%), centralised testing access (52.6%), regular case discussion forums (52.6%), and decision-support tools (42.1%) to better support effective delivery of precision oncology.

Conclusions: While preliminary, these findings suggest that even with access to genomic testing and MTB support, critical infrastructure is needed to translate precision oncology recommendations into clinical practice. Priorities of Australian medical oncologists include models that reduce time burden of interpreting and actioning genomic results and support knowledge of drug access pathways.