Cancer is caused by changes in DNA that affect how cells grow and behave. New genomic technologies make it possible to analyze a patient’s cancer in detail and match treatments to the specific mutations driving the disease. This approach, known as precision oncology, has the potential to improve outcomes for cancer patients. However, in Canada, access to precision oncology remains limited. This is largely due to gaps in evidence on effectiveness and cost, fragmented data systems, and policies not designed to support learning from real-world patient data. 

The Canadian Network for Learning Healthcare Systems and Cost-Effective ‘Omics Innovation (CLEO) was created to address these challenges. CLEO brought together 110 academic, public health, government and industry partners, including Health Canada and Canada’s Drug Agency. Its goal was to design a learning healthcare system that continuously learns from patient data while still respecting patient values, privacy, and legal requirements. This type of system enables more rapid evaluation of new technologies in precision oncology, helping ensure that patients can access innovative treatments sooner. 

Using the framework developed by CLEO, BC Cancer introduced a new genomic test, the AmpliSeq Focus panel. This made it possible for patients in BC to access the targeted cancer therapy Entrectinib earlier than patients in other parts of Canada. CLEO produced a coordinated set of legal tools for use by health system decision makers that define how financial, evidentiary and contractual components of managed access and conditional reimbursement can be operationalized in a Canadian context to bring treatments to patients faster. In addition, they developed a patient-informed secure data sharing platform that allows data to be safely exchanged. The success of this project resulted in $36 million in follow-on funding from industry and non-profit organizations to expand the learning health system platform, strengthen partnerships within Canada and globally and advance evidence for a learning healthcare system in Canada.