Integration of administrative claims and clinical data to advance real-world evidence generation in oncology

The objective of this study is to evaluate capabilities of the Generating Evidence Excellence (GEx) research environment using Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) as a use-case. Patients with incident NSCLC were identified in GEx from 01/01/2015 to 12/31/2019. Two GEx data containers were used: (1) claims from the Healthcare Integrated Research Database (HIRD) linked to clinical data from a Cancer Care Quality Program (CCQP) (HIRD+CCQP); (2) claims data from the HIRD and a second large commercially insured claims dataset (CD2) linked to electronic medical records from IntrinsiQ Specialty Solutions (IQSS) (HIRD+CD2 + IQSS). Patient demographics and all-cause mortality were contrasted with the American Community Survey and the United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) public use database. Descriptive analyses were completed <i>via</i> SAS Enterprise Guide 7.12 and SEER*stat. The study sample comprised of 6,233 (HIRD+CCQP) and 1,176 (HIRD+ CD2 + IQSS) patients with NSCLC. Both GEx data containers had similar patient demographics with a mean age 63 years and 71% White, while 70% of USCS patients were ≥65 years and 85% White. Most patients resided in the South/Midwest regions of the US (74% (HIRD+CCQP) and 86% (HIRD+CD2 + IQSS). Patients in GEx over-represented the working-age group, i.e. 65% were between 18 and 65 years old. Stage IV disease was frequently recorded at diagnosis (59.4% HIRD+CCQP, 44.0% HIRD+CD2 + IQSS, 46.1% USCS). All-cause mortality rate was 38.8 (HIRD+CCQP) and 27.3 (HIRD+CD2 + IQSS) per 100 person-years. The analysis of NSCLC as a use-case demonstrated that GEx is a valuable data ecosystem with a generalizable working-age patient population and comprehensive data to facilitate timely real-world evidence generation in oncology. This study examined patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) to understand the strengths and limitations of a novel integrated research environment called Generating Evidence Excellence (GEx). Researchers studied records from US patients diagnosed with NSCLC between 2015 and 2019 from two different data sources within GEx. These data sources combined healthcare insurance claims with clinical data and electronic medical records. The study included approximately 7400 patients from these data sources. The results showed that most of the patients were middle-aged (average 63 years), predominantly white, and lived in the Southern or Midwestern US. This group included more people who were still of working age compared to US national average, where individuals with cancer tend be older. Many of the GEx patients had advanced-stage cancer at the time of diagnosis. The mortality rates in these groups were calculated based on GEx data and compared to US national averages. The study concluded that the GEx research environment offers valuable insights that can help researchers understand and evaluate cancer treatments and outcomes more effectively.