Pharmacogenomic testing: perception of clinical utility, enablers and barriers to adoption in Australian hospitals

Implementing Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) in Clinical Practice: Advantages, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

The integration of whole genome sequencing (WGS) into all aspects of modern medicine represents the next step in the evolution of healthcare. Using this technology, scientists and physicians can observe the entire human genome comprehensively, generating a plethora of new sequencing data. Modern computational analysis entails advanced algorithms for variant detection, as well as complex models for classification. Data science and machine learning play a crucial role in the processing and interpretation of results, using enormous databases and statistics to discover new and support current genotype-phenotype correlations. In clinical practice, this technology has greatly enabled the development of personalized medicine, approaching each patient individually and in accordance with their genetic and biochemical profile. The most propulsive areas include rare disease genomics, oncogenomics, pharmacogenomics, neonatal screening, and infectious disease genomics. Another crucial application of WGS lies in the field of multi-omics, working towards the complete integration of human biomolecular data. Further technological development of sequencing technologies has led to the birth of third and fourth-generation sequencing, which include long-read sequencing, single-cell genomics, and nanopore sequencing. These technologies, alongside their continued implementation into medical research and practice, show great promise for the future of the field of medicine.

A Scoping Review of Pharmacogenomic Educational Interventions to Improve Knowledge and Confidence

OBJECTIVES

Poor knowledge and confidence in pharmacogenomics are key barriers to implementation. Education of future health care professionals is required to enhance appropriate use of pharmacogenomics; however, the optimal education approach is unclear. This systematic scoping review evaluates pharmacogenomic educational interventions to improve knowledge and confidence.

FINDINGS

A total of 24 studies were included. Most (90%) studies delivered pharmacogenomic education to pharmacy students and consisted of didactic lectures and workshops with case studies. To supplement case studies, self or class aggregated (52%, 12 of 23), mock (43%, 10 of 23) or faculty member provided (4%, 1 of 23) pharmacogenomic data were used in the case scenarios. All studies used quantitative methods, including student assessments and scaled surveys to assess the impact of the educational intervention on knowledge and/or confidence in pharmacogenomics. On average, the educational interventions improved knowledge acquisition by 21%, confidence in pharmacogenomic data interpretation by 37%, confidence in communication of pharmacogenomic information to patients by 41% and to health care professionals by 44%. Improvement in communication with other health care professionals was greater in students involved in interprofessional learning compared to self-pharmacogenomic testing.

SUMMARY

The measures used to determine the effect of educational interventions on student knowledge and confidence varied. Innovative pedagogy, specifically interactive case-based learning and simulation such as interprofessional learning, enhances the knowledge and confidence of students in pharmacogenomics. Course-embedded self-pharmacogenomic testing may offer a supplementary, interactive component to case-based learning by using real-life reports as the foundation of knowledge and confidence acquisition.

Pharmacogenomics - a minor rather than major force in clinical medicine

INTRODUCTION

Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is touted as essential for the future of precision medicine. But the opportunity cost of PGx from the prescribers' perspective is rarely considered. The aim of this article is to critique PGx-guided prescribing using clinical pharmacology principles so that important cases for PGx testing are not missed by doctors responsible for therapeutic decision making.

AREAS COVERED

Three categories of PGx and their limitations are outlined - exposure PGx, response PGx, and immune-mediated safety PGx. Clinical pharmacology reasons are given for the narrow scope of PGx-guided prescribing apart from a few medical specialties. Clinical problems for doctors that may arise from PGx are then explained, including mismatch between patients' expectations of PGx testing and the benefits or answers it provides.

EXPERT OPINION

Contrary to popular opinion, PGx is unlikely to become the cornerstone of precision medicine. Sound clinical pharmacology reasons explain why PGx-guided prescribing is unnecessary for most drugs. Pharmacogenomics is important for niche areas of prescribing but has limited clinical utility more broadly. The opportunity cost of PGx-guided prescribing is currently too great for most doctors.

Knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward pharmacogenomics among pharmacists and pharmacy students: A systematic review

Background and Aims

Pharmacists have been recognized as one of the most qualified healthcare professionals in the clinical implementation of pharmacogenomics, yet its widespread implementation in clinical pharmacy practice has remained limited. The review aims to systematically investigate knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward pharmacogenomics among pharmacists and pharmacy students to inform the future delivery of pharmacogenomics education programs.

Methods

PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and the International Pharmaceutical Abstracts were searched up to May 17, 2022. Studies were selected if they included data on pharmacists' or pharmacy students' knowledge, perception, or attitude about pharmacogenomics and were published in a peer-reviewed, English-language journal with full-text availability. Any published study not deemed original research was excluded. All included studies were critically appraised using the Center for Evidence-Based Management's critical appraisal tools. The data were descriptively analyzed and presented based on pharmacists' and pharmacy students' knowledge/awareness, perception/attitudes toward pharmacogenomic (PGx), confidence in using or interpreting PGx testing results, and their desire to get further PGx education or their most preferred method of further education.

Results

A combined total of 12,430 pharmacists and pharmacy students from 26 countries are represented in the 52 included studies. Despite overwhelmingly positive attitudes and perceptions toward pharmacogenomics among pharmacists and pharmacy students, an overall lack of adequate knowledge and confidence was found. The review also found a strong desire for further pharmacogenomics education among pharmacists and pharmacy students.

Conclusion

Pharmacists and pharmacy students have positive perceptions and attitudes toward pharmacogenomics, which is hindered by a lack of knowledge and confidence. However, inadequate control for confounders, limited representativeness of the studied population or region, and small sample sizes diminish the generalizability of the review results. Knowledge and confidence could be improved through enhanced delivery of pharmacogenomic courses within the pharmacy curriculum and continuing education programs.

User Experiences of Pharmacogenomic Testing and Opinions among Psychiatry Patients

Pharmacogenomic testing (PGx) is a tool used to guide physicians in selecting an optimal medication for clients based on their genetic profile. The objective of this qualitative study is to understand patients' experiences with PGx testing as well as their opinions regarding the clinical adoption of such tests in psychiatry. A focus group was conducted to assess the needs of clients who had experience using a PGx test. Participants were recruited from a large study on PGx testing that offered physicians an opportunity to use PGx reports to guide psychotropic prescriptions. The focus group discussions were recorded, transcribed, and coded using NVivo to identify core themes. A total of 11 people participated in the focus group. Our analysis revealed that many participants were in favour of implementing PGx testing in psychiatric practice, and all expressed important considerations for patient-centred optimization of PGx testing. The main themes captured were: education and awareness among clinicians, cost considerations, PGx results-sharing and accessibility, and prospective benefits. The results of this study suggest that patients are keen to see PGx testing in widespread clinical care, but they report important opportunities to improve knowledge mobilization of PGx testing.

Clinical utilities and end-user experience of pharmacogenomics: 39 mo of clinical implementation experience in an Australian hospital setting

BACKGROUND

Pharmacogenomics (PG) testing is under-utilised in Australia. Our research provides Australia-specific data on the perspectives of patients who have had PG testing and those of the clinicians involved in their care, with the aim to inform wider adoption of PG into routine clinical practice.

AIM

To investigate the frequency of actionable drug gene interactions and assess the perceived utility of PG among patients and clinicians.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective audit of PG undertaken by 100 patients at an Australian public hospital genetics service from 2018 to 2021. Via electronic surveys we compared and contrasted the experience, understanding and usage of results between these patients and their clinicians.

RESULTS

Of 100 patients who had PG, 84% were taking prescription medications, of which 67% were taking medications with actionable drug-gene interactions. Twenty-five out of 81 invited patients and 17 out of 89 invited clinicians completed the surveys. Sixty-eight percent of patients understood their PG results and 48% had medications changed following testing. Paired patient-clinician surveys showed patient-perceived utility and experience was positive, contrasting their clinicians’ hesitancy on PG adoption who identified insufficient education/training, lack of clinical support, test turnaround time and cost as barriers to adoption.

CONCLUSION

Our dichotomous findings between the perspectives of our patient and clinician cohorts suggest the uptake of PG is likely to be driven by patients and clinicians need to be prepared to provide information and guidance to their patients.

Healthcare professionals' and consumers' knowledge, attitudes, perspectives, and education needs in oncology pharmacogenomics: A systematic review

Clinical implementation of pharmacogenomic (PGx)-guided prescribing in oncology lags behind research evidence generation. We aimed to identify healthcare professionals' (HCPs) and consumers' knowledge, attitudes, perspectives, and education needs to inform strategies for implementation of scalable and sustainable oncology PGx programs. Systematic review of original articles indexed in EMBASE, EMCARE, MEDLINE, and PsycInfo from January 2012 until June 2022, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. PROSPERO registration number CRD42022352348. Of 1442 identified studies; 23 met inclusion criteria with 87% assessed high quality. Of these, 52% reported on HCPs, 35% on consumers, and 13% on both HCPs and consumers. Most were conducted in the United States (70%) and included multiple cancer types (74%). Across studies, HCPs and consumers mostly perceived value in PGx, however, both groups reported barriers to utilization, including cost, lack of consistent recommendations across guidelines, and limited knowledge among HCPs; test accuracy, clear testing benefits, and genomic information confidentiality among consumers. HCPs and consumers value and want to engage in PGx strategies in oncology care, however, are inhibited by unmet needs and practice and knowledge gaps. Implementation strategies aimed at addressing these issues may best support increased PGx uptake in oncology practice.

The Critical Role of Pharmacists in the Clinical Delivery of Pharmacogenetics in the U.S

Since the rebirth of pharmacogenomics (PGx) in the 1990s and 2000s, with new discoveries of genetic variation underlying adverse drug response and new analytical technologies such as sequencing and microarrays, there has been much interest in the clinical application of PGx testing. The early involvement of pharmacists in clinical studies and the establishment of organizations to support the dissemination of information about PGx variants have naturally resulted in leaders in clinical implementation. This paper presents an overview of the evolving role of pharmacists, and discusses potential challenges and future paths, primarily focused in the U.S. Pharmacists have positioned themselves as leaders in clinical PGx testing, and will prepare the next generation to utilize PGx testing in their scope of practice.

Calculation of the pharmacogenomics benefit score for patients with medication-related problems

Unexpected poor efficacy and intolerable adverse effects are medication-related problems that may result from genetic variation in genes encoding key proteins involved in pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics. Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing can be used in medical practice "pre-emptively" to avoid future patient harm from medications and "reactively" to diagnose medication-related problems following their occurrence. A structured approach to PGx consulting is proposed to calculate the pharmacogenomics benefit score (PGxBS), a patient-centered objective measure of congruency between medication-related problems and patient genotypes. An example case of poor efficacy with multiple medications is presented, together with comments on the potential benefits and limitations of using the PGxBS in medical practice.

Clinical Pharmacists’ Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Pharmacogenomic Testing in China

(1) Background: Uptake of pharmacogenomic testing in routine clinical practices is currently slow in China. Pharmacists might play an important role in leveraging care through applying pharmacogenomics, therefore, it is important to better understand clinical pharmacists’ knowledge of and attitudes toward pharmacogenomic testing, which has not been well-studied. (2) Methods: A self-administered survey was developed based on previous knowledge of pharmacogenomic testing and its uptake in China. Participants were recruited through the Committee of Pharmaceutical Affairs Management under the Chinese Hospital Association. (3) Results: A total of 1005 clinical pharmacists completed the questionnaire, among whom 996 (99.10%) had heard of pharmacogenomic testing before participation. More than half of respondents (60.0%, n = 597) rated their knowledge of pharmacogenomic testing as “average”, while 25% rated it “good” or “excellent”. “Guidelines, consensus and treatment paths for disease diagnosis and treatment” (78.7%) were the most preferred sources of information about pharmacogenomic testing. Most respondents (77.0%) believed that pharmacogenomics could “help to improve efficacy and reduce the incidence of adverse reactions”. Our participants also believed that patients would benefit most from pharmacogenomic testing through better prediction of individual drug responses and thus informed treatment decisions. The top challenge for the uptake of pharmacogenomic testing was its high cost or lack of insurance coverage (76.7%). (4) Conclusions: Most Chinese clinical pharmacists who participated in our study had a positive attitude toward pharmacogenomic testing, while the knowledge of pharmacogenomic testing was generally self-assessed as average.