The Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer Omics and Precision Oncology: accelerating equitable cancer genomics and precision oncology in health care and research
Last updated: October 1, 2026
Latest updates
ICGC ARGO and The Lancet Oncology established the Commission to examine why advances in cancer genomics are not reaching most people with cancer. It asks how health systems worldwide can deliver molecular cancer care that is equitable, effective and sustainable.
The Commission was announced at the 18th ICGC Scientific Workshop in Verona in August 2022. Its founding paper was published in January 2023. Raffaella Casolino (University of Glasgow) and Mark Lawler (Queen's University Belfast) co-chair the Commission (1).
Six members of ICGC ARGO's leadership served as commissioners: Amber Johns, Rita Lawlor, Andrew Biankin, Melanie Courtot, Lincoln Stein and Takayuki Yoshino. ICGC ARGO's operating data on data access and international data sharing forms part of the Commission's evidence base.
Partner organisations include: ESMO, IARC/WHO, LACOG, AORTIC, AOS, GA4GH, IQN Path and the US FDA.
Launch
The Commission was published on 25 September 2026 and launched at the UICC World Cancer Congress, held in Hong Kong from 24 to 26 September 2026.
For the main findings, see the ICGC ARGO news release.
Full citation: Casolino R, Mateo J, de Vries EGE, et al. Accelerating equitable cancer genomics and precision oncology in health care and research: a Lancet Oncology Commission. Lancet Oncol. 2026. Published online 25 September 2026. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(26)00302-5
Origins
ICGC ARGO and The Lancet Oncology announced the Commission at the 18th ICGC Scientific Workshop in Verona in August 2022. The Commission's founding paper, published in January 2023, defined its scope and priority questions.¹ Raffaella Casolino (University of Glasgow) chairs the Commission, with Mark Lawler (Queens University Belfast). The Commission brings together international experts and stakeholders with partner organisations including ESMO, IARC/WHO, LACOG, AORTIC, AOS, GA4GH, IQN Path and the US FDA.
Recommendations
The Commission sets out ten recommendations for health systems, funders, regulators and research consortia. They are intended to be adapted to national context and health-system readiness.
- Integrate precision oncology into national cancer control strategies and align with national precision medicine and data initiatives, supported by coordinated governance and monitoring
- Use health technology assessment (HTA)-informed priority setting for adoption, financing, reimbursement, and coverage within universal health coverage frameworks
- Define criteria for routine clinical use, limiting precision oncology to contexts with demonstrated clinical benefit and directing uncertain, emerging, or earlier-stage applications to prospective research and learning health-system settings
- Strengthen national research ecosystems to generate context-specific evidence, including prospective evaluation of emerging precision oncology applications across different stages of disease and lines of therapy and integrate research and routine care data
- Strengthen pathology, molecular diagnostics, and data infrastructure as the foundation of precision oncology
- Promote learning health systems via harmonised data standards, interoperability frameworks, structured reporting, and systematic registration of molecular and genomic test results
- Establish ethical, legal, and social frameworks for cancer data sharing that ensure consent, privacy, security, transparency, and accountability
- Promote the inclusion of under-represented populations and settings in precision oncology research and care
- Strengthen workforce education and training by integrating genomics and data competencies across the cancer workforce
- Ensure early and meaningful engagement of patients, families, and communities in governance, implementation, and evaluation.
Source: Table 3, Casolino R, Mateo J, de Vries EGE, et al. Lancet Oncol 2026. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(26)00302-5
To support implementation, the Commission also provides:
- a value-based, resource-stratified implementation framework
- a system-readiness assessment tool
- a precision oncology workforce competency-based framework
- a precision oncology monitoring and evaluation framework
- principles for responsible data sharing and health-system learning
- a phased implementation roadmap that maps each step to the recommendations above.
Next steps
ICGC ARGO will operationalise the Commission's framework across its global network. The initial focus is on:
standardised, responsible data sharing across member programmes
resource-stratified implementation, matched to the capacity of each health system
addressing the legal and regulatory barriers to international genomic data sharing that the Commission documents
expanding participation into regions that are under-represented in cancer genomics
This section will be updated as work progresses and planning is underway.
References
- Casolino R, Johns AL, Courtot M, et al. Accelerating cancer omics and precision oncology in health care and research: a Lancet Oncology Commission. Lancet Oncol. 2023. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00007-4