This episode features Stephen Gruber, Vice President at City of Hope National Medical Center and Director of City of Hope’s Center for Precision Medicine, Stacy Gray, Chief of City of Hope’s Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics and Deputy Director of its Center for Precision Medicine, Sumanta “Monty” Pal, Co-Director of the Kidney Cancer Program at City of Hope, and Rick Baehner, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Exact Sciences Precision Oncology. Here, they discuss their experience building their precision oncology program at City of Hope and how it has improved patient care and clinical outcomes across the organization. This episode is sponsored by Exact Sciences
Summary
City of Hope Leaders Discuss Building Precision Oncology Program
About the Episode
In this episode of the podcast, Stephen Gruber, Stacy Gray, Sumanta “Monty” Pal, and Rick Baehner discuss their experience building a precision oncology program at City of Hope National Medical Center. The panelists explain the benefits of the program for patients and healthcare professionals, challenges in implementation, and the need for a paradigm shift in genetic counseling.
Precision Oncology Improving Patient Care
Precision medicine has advanced rapidly in recent years, and its implementation is making a positive impact on patient care. City of Hope's precision medicine program involves comprehensive testing, which has resulted in patients receiving treatments that work for their individual cases. Comprehensive testing also allows for the identification of inherited predispositions to cancer, allowing for interventions to reduce risk and prevent cancers in family members. The program has seen an incredibly positive reception from patients, with more than 93% opting in for genetic and genomic testing. There have been some challenges in implementing the program, especially when it comes to setting up the infrastructure to process samples, but the team has worked hard to ensure that they are able to provide the best care possible to patients.
The Need for a Paradigm Shift in Genetic Counseling
There is a need for a paradigm shift in genetic counseling in order to implement a precision oncology program. This includes bringing up consent for germline testing upfront, transitioning away from pre-test counseling to providing clinically relevant information after the tests are back, and hiring enough genetic counselors to bring the program to scale. Additionally, clinical trial enrollment has benefited from the precision medicine program. There also needs to be discipline to discipline engagement in order to integrate genomic data into personalized patient care. Ultimately, the goal is to prevent cancer in high risk families and improve outcomes for patients with cancer.
Conclusion
The precision oncology program at City of Hope National Medical Center has improved patient care and clinical outcomes across the organization. Comprehensive testing and identification of inherited predispositions to cancer have allowed for personalized treatments and prevention strategies. While there have been challenges in implementing the program, the team at City of Hope has worked to overcome them and bring the program to scale. The need for a paradigm shift in genetic counseling and discipline to discipline engagement is essential to continue improving personalized patient care.
Note: This is an AI generated transcript, not edited by a staff writer and is solely intended for educational purposes. If you have any questions/concerns, reach out to podcasts@beckershealthcare.com
This episode aired on 04/28/2023 and can be listened here.
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