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The Precision Oncology Program expands access to tumor testing to all facilities to match patients to treatment.

As the VA Precision Oncology Program (POP) matures, it is working to ensure that all veterans have access to appropriate therapies no matter the location. At the Association of VA Hematology and Oncology (AVAHO) meeting in Denver, Colorado, Michael Kelley, director of the VA National Program for Medical Oncology outlined the latest POP updates and strongly encouraged VA oncologists to take advantage of its resources.

 According to Kelley, gene panel testing for many tumor types is now available through the POP program. Importantly, POP will pay for the testing. Currently POP is focused on next generation sequencing (NGS) tissue testing and ctDNA (circulating tumor DNA) liquid biopsy for solid tumors. A NGS panel for hematologic malignancies will be available soon. Kelley strongly encouraged facilities that are not currently using POP for NGS testing to reach out to Jill Duffy, director of oncology operations.

 Related: Evaluation of Oncologic Pharmacotherapy and Implementation of a Pharmacist-Managed Monitoring Protocol at a Community-Based Outpatient Clinic

 According to Kelley, POP is moving forward with additional programs to improve oncology care. The POP is developing a national interfacility consult program. It also is developing a “smart” oncology notes template. Other initiatives underway include a patient dashboard, patient tracker, quality metrics, and an end-of-life quality assessment dashboard.

Kelley noted that POP also is working to increase access to clinical trials. The VA has partnered with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on NAVIGATE to get more VA patients involved in NCI trials. The NAVIGATE program is expected to kick off soon and be up and running in 2018. Grant Huang, acting director for the Cooperative Studies Program in the Office of Research & Development has been helping to lead that initiative.

Related: Implementation of a Precision Oncology Program as an Exemplar of a Learning Health Care System in the VA

The VA also is moving forward with precision oncology as part of the Applied Proteogennomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Consortium. The APOLLO program, which emerged out of the Cancer Moonshot, brings together the VA, DoD, and NCI. The DoD is combining genomic and proteomic “to create the nation’s first system in which cancer patients are routinely screened for genomic abnormalities and proteomic information to match their tumor types to targeted therapies.”

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The Precision Oncology Program expands access to tumor testing to all facilities to match patients to treatment.
The Precision Oncology Program expands access to tumor testing to all facilities to match patients to treatment.

As the VA Precision Oncology Program (POP) matures, it is working to ensure that all veterans have access to appropriate therapies no matter the location. At the Association of VA Hematology and Oncology (AVAHO) meeting in Denver, Colorado, Michael Kelley, director of the VA National Program for Medical Oncology outlined the latest POP updates and strongly encouraged VA oncologists to take advantage of its resources.

 According to Kelley, gene panel testing for many tumor types is now available through the POP program. Importantly, POP will pay for the testing. Currently POP is focused on next generation sequencing (NGS) tissue testing and ctDNA (circulating tumor DNA) liquid biopsy for solid tumors. A NGS panel for hematologic malignancies will be available soon. Kelley strongly encouraged facilities that are not currently using POP for NGS testing to reach out to Jill Duffy, director of oncology operations.

 Related: Evaluation of Oncologic Pharmacotherapy and Implementation of a Pharmacist-Managed Monitoring Protocol at a Community-Based Outpatient Clinic

 According to Kelley, POP is moving forward with additional programs to improve oncology care. The POP is developing a national interfacility consult program. It also is developing a “smart” oncology notes template. Other initiatives underway include a patient dashboard, patient tracker, quality metrics, and an end-of-life quality assessment dashboard.

Kelley noted that POP also is working to increase access to clinical trials. The VA has partnered with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on NAVIGATE to get more VA patients involved in NCI trials. The NAVIGATE program is expected to kick off soon and be up and running in 2018. Grant Huang, acting director for the Cooperative Studies Program in the Office of Research & Development has been helping to lead that initiative.

Related: Implementation of a Precision Oncology Program as an Exemplar of a Learning Health Care System in the VA

The VA also is moving forward with precision oncology as part of the Applied Proteogennomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Consortium. The APOLLO program, which emerged out of the Cancer Moonshot, brings together the VA, DoD, and NCI. The DoD is combining genomic and proteomic “to create the nation’s first system in which cancer patients are routinely screened for genomic abnormalities and proteomic information to match their tumor types to targeted therapies.”

As the VA Precision Oncology Program (POP) matures, it is working to ensure that all veterans have access to appropriate therapies no matter the location. At the Association of VA Hematology and Oncology (AVAHO) meeting in Denver, Colorado, Michael Kelley, director of the VA National Program for Medical Oncology outlined the latest POP updates and strongly encouraged VA oncologists to take advantage of its resources.

 According to Kelley, gene panel testing for many tumor types is now available through the POP program. Importantly, POP will pay for the testing. Currently POP is focused on next generation sequencing (NGS) tissue testing and ctDNA (circulating tumor DNA) liquid biopsy for solid tumors. A NGS panel for hematologic malignancies will be available soon. Kelley strongly encouraged facilities that are not currently using POP for NGS testing to reach out to Jill Duffy, director of oncology operations.

 Related: Evaluation of Oncologic Pharmacotherapy and Implementation of a Pharmacist-Managed Monitoring Protocol at a Community-Based Outpatient Clinic

 According to Kelley, POP is moving forward with additional programs to improve oncology care. The POP is developing a national interfacility consult program. It also is developing a “smart” oncology notes template. Other initiatives underway include a patient dashboard, patient tracker, quality metrics, and an end-of-life quality assessment dashboard.

Kelley noted that POP also is working to increase access to clinical trials. The VA has partnered with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on NAVIGATE to get more VA patients involved in NCI trials. The NAVIGATE program is expected to kick off soon and be up and running in 2018. Grant Huang, acting director for the Cooperative Studies Program in the Office of Research & Development has been helping to lead that initiative.

Related: Implementation of a Precision Oncology Program as an Exemplar of a Learning Health Care System in the VA

The VA also is moving forward with precision oncology as part of the Applied Proteogennomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Consortium. The APOLLO program, which emerged out of the Cancer Moonshot, brings together the VA, DoD, and NCI. The DoD is combining genomic and proteomic “to create the nation’s first system in which cancer patients are routinely screened for genomic abnormalities and proteomic information to match their tumor types to targeted therapies.”

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