NYU Langone Health recently launched a molecular oncology program with clinical, research, and educational elements.
NYU Langone Health has launched an innovative molecular oncology program.
Molecular oncology focuses on the molecular classification of tumors. By determining the molecular makeup of a tumor, molecular oncology can determine the best therapies that match the patient, target patients for appropriate clinical trials, and monitor the response to therapy.
NYU Langone Health launched the Center for Molecular Oncology at the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center in October.
"A big part of what makes our program special is the scale, the scope, and the integration," says Alec Kimmelman, MD, PhD, director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center. "Patients can have access to interpretation of molecular testing wherever they come into our health system. They can go to any of our practices and have the same access."
Molecular oncology testing is available commercially, but the new Center for Molecular Oncology offers a comprehensive level of services and capabilities, according to Kimmelman.
"We have a centralized integrated infrastructure," Kimmelman says, "all of the tests are done on the same platform, the results are analyzed by a central team of experts, and a dedicated group of clinicians is making the treatment decisions and are expert in making analyses."
There are also research and educational components at the Center for Molecular Oncology, Kimmelman explains. The goal is to train the next generation of people who are going to lead in molecular oncology.
"With consent, the data from patients is going to be used for research to understand which patients respond to which therapies." Kimmelman says. "We are going to be continuously learning while we are treating patients."
Alec Kimmelman, MD, PhD, is director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health. Photo courtesy of NYU Langone Health.
Advanced diagnostics
The Center for Molecular Oncology offers a range of advanced diagnostic techniques, including liquid biopsies, according to Kimmelman.
"You get a tube of blood from a peripheral vein, just as you would for standard blood tests at a primary care practice," Kimmelman says. "We can take that tube of blood and use deep sequencing technology to detect the presence of DNA that tumors shed."
Liquid biopsies enable several benefits for patients, Kimmelman explains, including quantifying whether there is tumor present in a patient. They can give a quantitative analysis of how much cancer is present, and characterize tumors to determine the genetic alterations in tumors. They also allow the Center for Molecular Oncology to pick the best therapies for patients.
Liquid biopsies also have the potential to screen patients for cancer, Kimmelman says.
"You can use liquid biopsies to help with diagnosis," Kimmelman says. "You can use them to guide therapies. You can use them to change therapies much quicker than you could before. And you can use them to follow patients for the presence of disease."
Part of the Perlmutter Cancer Centers molecular oncology program is following patients with molecular testing, according to Kimmelman.
"They will get liquid biopsies whenever they come in for a visit," Kimmelman says. "Then we have a centralized molecular oncology tumor board that is going to review the cases with the referring oncologist to make sure that all patients have access to our expertise."
What CMOs should know
Establishing a molecular oncology program should be a consideration for all health system CMOs because molecular oncology is destined to become the state of the art in oncology, Kimmelman explains.
"For a CMO, having a molecular oncology program is a way of ensuring that patients are getting the most advanced testing and therapies," Kimmelman says. "Eventually, all oncology is going to be molecular oncology—this is the way we are going to diagnose and treat patients."
Kimmelman recommends that CMOs weigh the decision to launch a molecular oncology program, depending in part on the level of infrastructure.
"We have been able to put a central umbrella program in place for our program, which is one of the unique features about the Center for Molecular Oncology," Kimmelman says. "We also have a fully integrated health system with the same electronic health record at all of our facilities."
Kimmelman emphasizes that almost every health system would benefit from a centralized approach to molecular oncology.
"Instead of having clinicians send tests out for certain cases to a particular company and the results come back in a PDF that is scanned into the electronic health record," Kimmelman says, "a more centralized approach generally to molecular diagnostics would benefit most health systems."
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Molecular oncology focuses on the molecular classification of tumors.
The new Center for Molecular Oncology at NYU Langone Health features a range of molecular testing, including liquid biopsies.
Health system CMOs should consider developing molecular oncology programs to ensure that patients are getting the most advanced testing and therapies.