Linking Genomic and Clinical Data in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

The use of electronic health records (EHRs) has revolutionized the ability to capture real-world data in clinical practice. But whether analysis of EHR data can yield clinically relevant insights is unclear.

To determine whether clinical data acquired via EHRs would be comparable to data from existing known literature, investigators interrogated 275 oncology practices using Flatiron Health EHRs and correlated patient clinical data with comprehensive genomic profiling information via Foundation Medicine's database. From 2011 through 2017, 28,998 patient EHRs were evaluated, and 4064 patients were reported as non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Of the NSCLC patients, 86% had stage IIIB/IV disease, 77% had nonsquamous disease, and 21.4% had an …