Practical Takeaways for Patients, Providers, and Payers

The final segment consolidates major insights and tailors them to three key audiences: patients, providers, and payers.

For patients, Dr. Rotow emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy, particularly ensuring that comprehensive molecular profiling has been performed. Because actionable biomarkers evolve over time, even patients previously treated with immunotherapy should revisit their genomic testing to confirm no opportunities were missed. Patients can directly influence their care by asking these questions.

For providers, the message is similar but more technical: perform broad, multimodaltesting that includes next-generation sequencing, RNA sequencing, and immunohistochemistry to avoid missing low-frequency alterations like BRAF V600E. Clinicians must also recognize that BRAF mutations occur across diverse demographics, not just in stereotypical non-smoking profiles. Detecting these mutations unlocks significant survival advantages, making diligence essential.

For payers, the speakers stress two priorities:

1. Rapid access to genomic testing, without administrative delays that slow diagnosis.
2. Timely authorization of targeted therapy, because even short delays can compromise outcomes in rapidly progressing lung cancer.

Dr. Dagogo-Jack also raises a compassionate point: some patients who are heavily pretreated may discover BRAF V600E mutations late in their disease course. Although PHAROS focused on frontline and second-line settings, payers should consider enabling access for late-line patients with no remaining alternatives.

The program concludes with a reaffirmation of the importance of awareness and education. BRAF V600E–mutant NSCLC is a small but clinically significant population, and improving outcomes requires coordinated effort across the healthcare system. The speakers close by encouraging continued research, data sharing, and advocacy to ensure all eligible patients benefit from these transformative therapies.