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Signs of progress around the Cancer Moonshot were already apparent at the AVAHO annual meeting, held in Dallas, Texas last week. According to Deborah K. Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN FAAN, Director of Cancer Survivorship and professor in the University of North Carolina School of Nursing and a member of the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel, the overarching goal was to “bring about a decade’s worth of advances in 5 years, making more therapies available to more patients, while also improving the ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage,” accordint to Dr. Mayer. The effort was as much an effort to jump start efforts to increase access to high-quality care and to energize new research
Related: Innovation and Cancer Moonshot Highlight AVAHO Conference
In June 2016, nearly 400 cancer researchers, oncologists, nurses, patients, advocates and others met, and > 7,000 more came together at hospitals, community care centers, businesses, and in family rooms at more than 170 local summits in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington, D.C. Coming out of the meeting, the Blue Ribbon Panel articulated 5 strategic goals for the Moonshot: to catalyze new scientific breakthroughs, unleash the power of data, accelerate bringing new therapies to patients, strengthen prevention and diagnosis, and improve patient access and care.
Michael J Kelley, MD, VHA’s National Program Director for Oncology has represented the VA in Moonshot. Dr. Kelley provided an overview of the VA programs that are being accelerated by the Moonshot initiative and highlighted the specifics of how the Moonshot impacts cancer care at the VA.
Related: VA/DoD to Help Lead New Cancer Initiative
One of the programs emerging out of the Moonshot is the development of virtual cancer centers. Importantly, the virtual cancer center aims to serve veteran patients in VA facilities, as well as those who access care through the Veterans Choice Program, and reduce disparities in care based on the location of that care by spreading the medical home/patient aligned care team model. The VA hopes to be able to meet those goals through the expansion and standardization of clinical care pathways for cancer diagnosis and treatment and the use of multidisciplinary tumor boards for all veterans regardless of the patient’s geographic location.
Although the VA Precision Oncology Program (POP) predates the Moonshot, it is now receiving more support and is expected to roll out nationwide in 2016. The primary goal of POP is to better match patients to treatments using genetic testing for more accurate understanding of patient’s cancer and appropriate treatment options that fit with their genetic profile. The program utilizes national testing to decrease cost and increase uniformity, provides for molecular oncology consultation services for better test result interpretation, and improved access to drugs, including off-label and investigational treatments.
Related: White House Budget Invests in Cancer, VA Hiring, and TRICARE
One of the most interesting initiatives to emerge out of the Moonshot is the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Consortium, which combines VA, DoD, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Together the 3 agencies are leveraging advanced research methods in proteogenomics to “more rapidly identify unique targets and pathways of cancer for detection and intervention.” According to Kelley, APOLLO will be focused on lung cancer initially, but the program is expected to expand rapidly. Data culled from the VA Million Veteran Program, POP, the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed, and elsewhere will be analyzed to help push patients into appropriate clinical trials. The ultimate goal is to generate better data on prognosis and response for patients with specific genetic profiles.
One of the challenges that VA has is getting patients into clinical trials. Currently many facilities participate in only 1 clinical, and the mean number of trials per facility was only 3.4 trials per facility. To help improve access to clinical trials and the enrollment of patients in trials, the use of a VA centralized institutional review board is being expanded.
Signs of progress around the Cancer Moonshot were already apparent at the AVAHO annual meeting, held in Dallas, Texas last week. According to Deborah K. Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN FAAN, Director of Cancer Survivorship and professor in the University of North Carolina School of Nursing and a member of the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel, the overarching goal was to “bring about a decade’s worth of advances in 5 years, making more therapies available to more patients, while also improving the ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage,” accordint to Dr. Mayer. The effort was as much an effort to jump start efforts to increase access to high-quality care and to energize new research
Related: Innovation and Cancer Moonshot Highlight AVAHO Conference
In June 2016, nearly 400 cancer researchers, oncologists, nurses, patients, advocates and others met, and > 7,000 more came together at hospitals, community care centers, businesses, and in family rooms at more than 170 local summits in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington, D.C. Coming out of the meeting, the Blue Ribbon Panel articulated 5 strategic goals for the Moonshot: to catalyze new scientific breakthroughs, unleash the power of data, accelerate bringing new therapies to patients, strengthen prevention and diagnosis, and improve patient access and care.
Michael J Kelley, MD, VHA’s National Program Director for Oncology has represented the VA in Moonshot. Dr. Kelley provided an overview of the VA programs that are being accelerated by the Moonshot initiative and highlighted the specifics of how the Moonshot impacts cancer care at the VA.
Related: VA/DoD to Help Lead New Cancer Initiative
One of the programs emerging out of the Moonshot is the development of virtual cancer centers. Importantly, the virtual cancer center aims to serve veteran patients in VA facilities, as well as those who access care through the Veterans Choice Program, and reduce disparities in care based on the location of that care by spreading the medical home/patient aligned care team model. The VA hopes to be able to meet those goals through the expansion and standardization of clinical care pathways for cancer diagnosis and treatment and the use of multidisciplinary tumor boards for all veterans regardless of the patient’s geographic location.
Although the VA Precision Oncology Program (POP) predates the Moonshot, it is now receiving more support and is expected to roll out nationwide in 2016. The primary goal of POP is to better match patients to treatments using genetic testing for more accurate understanding of patient’s cancer and appropriate treatment options that fit with their genetic profile. The program utilizes national testing to decrease cost and increase uniformity, provides for molecular oncology consultation services for better test result interpretation, and improved access to drugs, including off-label and investigational treatments.
Related: White House Budget Invests in Cancer, VA Hiring, and TRICARE
One of the most interesting initiatives to emerge out of the Moonshot is the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Consortium, which combines VA, DoD, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Together the 3 agencies are leveraging advanced research methods in proteogenomics to “more rapidly identify unique targets and pathways of cancer for detection and intervention.” According to Kelley, APOLLO will be focused on lung cancer initially, but the program is expected to expand rapidly. Data culled from the VA Million Veteran Program, POP, the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed, and elsewhere will be analyzed to help push patients into appropriate clinical trials. The ultimate goal is to generate better data on prognosis and response for patients with specific genetic profiles.
One of the challenges that VA has is getting patients into clinical trials. Currently many facilities participate in only 1 clinical, and the mean number of trials per facility was only 3.4 trials per facility. To help improve access to clinical trials and the enrollment of patients in trials, the use of a VA centralized institutional review board is being expanded.
Signs of progress around the Cancer Moonshot were already apparent at the AVAHO annual meeting, held in Dallas, Texas last week. According to Deborah K. Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN FAAN, Director of Cancer Survivorship and professor in the University of North Carolina School of Nursing and a member of the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel, the overarching goal was to “bring about a decade’s worth of advances in 5 years, making more therapies available to more patients, while also improving the ability to prevent cancer and detect it at an early stage,” accordint to Dr. Mayer. The effort was as much an effort to jump start efforts to increase access to high-quality care and to energize new research
Related: Innovation and Cancer Moonshot Highlight AVAHO Conference
In June 2016, nearly 400 cancer researchers, oncologists, nurses, patients, advocates and others met, and > 7,000 more came together at hospitals, community care centers, businesses, and in family rooms at more than 170 local summits in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington, D.C. Coming out of the meeting, the Blue Ribbon Panel articulated 5 strategic goals for the Moonshot: to catalyze new scientific breakthroughs, unleash the power of data, accelerate bringing new therapies to patients, strengthen prevention and diagnosis, and improve patient access and care.
Michael J Kelley, MD, VHA’s National Program Director for Oncology has represented the VA in Moonshot. Dr. Kelley provided an overview of the VA programs that are being accelerated by the Moonshot initiative and highlighted the specifics of how the Moonshot impacts cancer care at the VA.
Related: VA/DoD to Help Lead New Cancer Initiative
One of the programs emerging out of the Moonshot is the development of virtual cancer centers. Importantly, the virtual cancer center aims to serve veteran patients in VA facilities, as well as those who access care through the Veterans Choice Program, and reduce disparities in care based on the location of that care by spreading the medical home/patient aligned care team model. The VA hopes to be able to meet those goals through the expansion and standardization of clinical care pathways for cancer diagnosis and treatment and the use of multidisciplinary tumor boards for all veterans regardless of the patient’s geographic location.
Although the VA Precision Oncology Program (POP) predates the Moonshot, it is now receiving more support and is expected to roll out nationwide in 2016. The primary goal of POP is to better match patients to treatments using genetic testing for more accurate understanding of patient’s cancer and appropriate treatment options that fit with their genetic profile. The program utilizes national testing to decrease cost and increase uniformity, provides for molecular oncology consultation services for better test result interpretation, and improved access to drugs, including off-label and investigational treatments.
Related: White House Budget Invests in Cancer, VA Hiring, and TRICARE
One of the most interesting initiatives to emerge out of the Moonshot is the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Consortium, which combines VA, DoD, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Together the 3 agencies are leveraging advanced research methods in proteogenomics to “more rapidly identify unique targets and pathways of cancer for detection and intervention.” According to Kelley, APOLLO will be focused on lung cancer initially, but the program is expected to expand rapidly. Data culled from the VA Million Veteran Program, POP, the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed, and elsewhere will be analyzed to help push patients into appropriate clinical trials. The ultimate goal is to generate better data on prognosis and response for patients with specific genetic profiles.
One of the challenges that VA has is getting patients into clinical trials. Currently many facilities participate in only 1 clinical, and the mean number of trials per facility was only 3.4 trials per facility. To help improve access to clinical trials and the enrollment of patients in trials, the use of a VA centralized institutional review board is being expanded.