Genetic tests for cancer treatments to be covered

The Japanese health ministry recently decided that genetic tests to help cancer patients identify the best drugs and therapies for their treatment will be covered by the public health insurance system.

Insurance coverage for genomic testing will be applied to patients who have not responded to conventional cancer treatment. Patients will only have to pay 10 to 30 percent of the fees, which would otherwise cost a large sum of money.

The financial burden on patients can be further reduced if they obtain medical benefits offered to individuals who have exceeded the cap for monthly medical expenses.

Patients eligible for insurance coverage are those suffering from solid cancers, which exclude cancers of the blood, and have not responded to surgery and anti-cancer drug treatment, as well as pediatric cancer patients and patients with rare cancers.

It is expected that up to 26,000 people will use genomic profiling annually, with yearly sales of the products totaling around JPY15 billion.

The accumulated information is expected to be utilized for the development of new treatments.