Aurora Cancer Care, a not-for-profit health care provider in Wisconsin and northern Illinois is launching a precision medicine program powered by Syapse, a provider of precision oncology solutions. The new oncology precision medicine program will help physicians and researchers provide more care options for patients whose cancer is resistant to conventional treatment options like radiation and chemotherapy.
The new multi-disciplinary Oncology Precision Medicine Clinic will be located inside the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center and will leverage molecular profiling technology to help patients explore additional treatment options that take into consideration the genetic characteristics of their tumors. The new clinic will include representation from medical oncology, pharmacy, pathology, research and genetic counseling services, and will be the first facility in Wisconsin to feature Syapse’s precision medicine software solution that enables oncologists to treat patients with precision medicine. Syapse brings together previously fragmented clinical, molecular, treatment, and outcomes data to support complex clinical decisions and facilitate new physician workflows.
As part of the partnership, Syapse will work with Aurora’s EHR system to provide clinicians the ability to access and compare real-world treatment and outcomes data from other leading cancer centers across the nation through the Oncology Precision Network (OPeN), the nation’s largest precision oncology data sharing network of not-for-profit health systems that includes Intermountain Healthcare, Stanford Cancer Institute, and Providence St. Joseph Health, and others.
Through OPeN, cancer experts will be able to share treatment and outcomes data from more than 100,000 patients while preserving individual patient privacy and security.
The molecular genetic makeup of each tumor will be compared with patient outcomes, providing potential insights into how certain treatments may be more effective. Through the network and access to real-world data, clinicians can see the impact of treatment options in a shorter timeframe as compared to more traditional clinical trial outcome studies, which can take years to see the results. This increased access to data and outcomes through OPeN can provide more treatment options for patients, faster.
Additionally, Syapse will serve as a ‘match-maker’ for some patients to gain access to more clinical trials by identifying patients who may be eligible. Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center will be the first location where the Syapse software will be implemented in the fall of 2017, and all 19 Aurora Cancer Care facilities throughout eastern Wisconsin will have access by early 2018.
“Precision medicine is the future of cancer care and a topic of great discussion on both a regional and national level, including at the Cancer Moonshot Summit in 2016,” said James Weese, M.D., F.A.C.S., vice president of Aurora Cancer Care. “To bring the depth and experience of Syapse and OPeN to nearly 8,000 new cancer patients we treat each year means we’ll be able to offer more treatment options, and also make smarter choices on treatments based on analyzing biological markers in tumors to see what’s worked well with similar tumors from across the country.”
