The Impact of Expanded Access Programs for Systemic Anticancer Therapy in an Irish Cancer Centre

Abstract Purpose Expanded access programs (EAPs) allow patients with cancer who have unmet clinical needs to obtain access to pre-authorisation treatments. There is no standardised process or registry for implementing these programs nationally and real world data on their impact is lacking. We evaluated their prevalence and impact in a cancer centre. Methods Data relating to adult cancer patients treated via EAPs from 2011 to 2021 in three Cork university hospitals was collated. Descriptive statistics were employed to get an overview of the impact these programs currently have on cancer care provision. Results We identified 193 patients who accessed EAPs during the study period, availing of 33 separate drugs for a total of 50 different cancer indications. The prevalence of EAP usage was shown to have been trending upwards in recent years with a total of 189 programs being accessed throughout the period. Drugs provided were from a number of different anti-cancer drug classes, particularly targeted therapies (n = 18) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (n = 17). Cancers from a wide range of both solid and liquid tumour types were identified as having been treated with EAP drugs and patients treated were from across a broad spectrum of ages (26–82, SD:11.99). Conclusion EAPs have an increasing role in access to novel cancer therapies in our community and by extension nationally. Equity of EAP access would be facilitated by a national registry of available agents which we have now established. Assessment of their benefits and toxicities would be enhanced by the requirement for a real world data base as a condition of EAP approval.