Foundation Medicine has announced a new initiative designed to raise awareness about the critical role of quality and accuracy in cancer biomarker testing.
The Quality First initiative centres on patient advocate stories and educational resources that communicate how cancer biomarker tests can vary significantly in their reliability and clarity.
The Boston-based precision medicine company argues that differences in test quality can directly affect whether patients are matched to the most effective treatment options available to them.
Foundation Medicine Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Jennifer Romans said the initiative reflects the company’s broader mission to reshape how cancer care decisions are made.
“At Foundation Medicine, we are transforming the future of cancer care through high-quality biomarker tests and services,” Romans said, emphasising that precision cancer care depends on the accuracy of the tests used to inform treatment.
“Cancer is complex, and it requires a personalized, data-driven approach to enable confident care decisions,” Romans added, noting that not all biomarker tests are created equal.
The campaign includes educational videos, a glossary of key biomarker testing terms, and first-hand accounts from patient advocates who have experienced the impact of high-quality testing in their own treatment journeys.
Breast cancer patient advocate Karen Peterson shared how a Foundation Medicine test identified her tumour mutational burden-high status, making her eligible for a clinical trial she might otherwise have missed.
“Patients care about test quality, because we know that accuracy is the key to unlocking the right treatment options,” Peterson said, underlining why testing precision matters at every stage of a cancer diagnosis.
Non-small cell lung cancer patient advocate Greg Wehn described how clear, accurate test reports helped his healthcare team build an individualised treatment plan during what he called an overwhelming experience.
“As a patient navigating cancer, everything can seem unclear and overwhelming,” Wehn said, adding that high-quality biomarker tests generate reports that distil complex results in a way that supports informed decision-making.
The Quality First initiative reflects growing pressure across the oncology sector to establish clearer standards around biomarker testing, as the number of available tests and diagnostic platforms continues to expand rapidly.
Foundation Medicine positions the campaign as both a patient resource and an industry-wide call to raise the baseline standard of what clinicians and patients should expect from cancer diagnostics.