Cancer patients treated at Monash Partners’ hospitals will have equitable access to the latest precision medicine technologies, and the best medical advice and treatments thanks to a new Precision Oncology Tumour Board, to be established by the Monash Partners Comprehensive Cancer Consortium (MPCCC).
Collectively MPCCC partners care for over 19,000 cancer patients in south-eastern Victoria each year. The MPCCC’s Precision Oncology Tumour Board will co-ordinate patients’ access to sophisticated molecular and immunological precision medicine techniques at partner sites, and use the information generated to guide patient treatment.
“MPCCC’s Precision Oncology Tumour Board will provide a mechanism to integrate the considerable clinical, molecular and research expertise amongst MPCCC partners in a manner that supports excellence and innovation in patient care”, said project lead, Prof Mark Shackleton, Professor Director of Oncology at The Alfred and Monash University.
“At the moment MPCCC partners encompass areas of distinction in tumour profiling, but these are unevenly placed and inadequately integrated across health services and tumour streams”, said Prof Shackleton.
“The MPCCC Precision Oncology Tumour Board will provide a central, comprehensive and co-ordinated multidisciplinary platform to ensure more patients get access to the best possible treatments”, he said.
“This program has potential to have a huge impact on the outcomes of patients treated at Monash Partners hospitals”, said Prof Melissa Southey, internationally renowned molecular geneticist and Chair of Precision Medicine at Monash University’s School of Clinical Sciences.
“The Precision Oncology Tumour Board is just the starting point”, said MPCCC’s Research Director, Prof Gail Risbridger.
“The MPCCC’s precision oncology collaborative platform is about building our future capacity to provide the best possible cancer care by fostering clinical trials, informing biomedical research, supporting skill development and career pathways and growing our infrastructure”, said Professor Risbridger.
The MPCCC Precision Oncology Tumour Board has been made possible with seed funding provided by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Precision Medicine is one of three collaborative platforms outlined by MPCCC’s 2017 – 2021 strategic plan. Last month the MPCCC announced funding to pilot a shared care model to treat cancer related-depression. Clinical quality improvement through measurement of patient outcomes is also a strength of the consortium.
For more information about MPCCC and its collaborative programs contact info@monashpartnersccc.org