Aurora Health Care announced that it has launched a new program to treat oncology patients whose cancer has been resistant to conventional treatment options such as radiation and chemotherapy.
The multi-disciplinary Oncology Precision Medicine Clinic will be located inside the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee.
The clinic will help clinicians provide more care options for patients using new technology not yet available in Wisconsin called Syapse.
Syapse is a leading precision medicine software system bringing together previously fragmented clinical, molecular, treatment and outcomes data to support complex clinical decisions.
Once implemented in fall, it will work in conjunction with Aurora’s electronic health records system. Syapse also has the ability to access and compare real-world treatment and outcomes data from other leading cancer centers across the country through the Oncology Precision Network (OPeN), the nation’s largest precision oncology data sharing network of not-for-profit health systems.
Through OPeN, cancer experts will be able to share treatment and outcomes data from more than 100,000 patients while preserving patient privacy.
The molecular genetic makeup of each tumor will be compared with patient outcomes, providing potential insights into how certain treatments may be more effective and possibly find a treatment option in a shorter timeframe.
“Precision medicine is the future of cancer care and a topic of great discussion on both a regional and national level,” said Dr. James Weese, vice president of Aurora Cancer Care, part of Aurora Health 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.”
By early 2018, all 19 Aurora Cancer Care facilities throughout eastern Wisconsin will have access to Syapse.
The Oncology Precision Medicine Clinic at St. Luke’s will include representation from medical oncology, pharmacy, pathology, research and genetic counseling services so patients receive the full spectrum of care.
Dr. Michael Thompson, a board-certified hematologist and oncologist, with a doctoral degree in pharmacogenetics, will serve as co-director of the program; Jennifer Godden, Pharm.D, will be the program’s other co-director, which will also include dedicated medical oncologists and a molecular pathologist.
