Precision Cancer Therapies Program Brings New Hope to Gulf Region

With the inception of its Precision Cancer Therapies Program, the Ochsner Cancer Institute has been able to expand availability of early phase clinical trials to patients who might otherwise have had to drive up to 5 or 6 hours to participate in one.

Located outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Ochsner Cancer Institute, part of the Ochsner Health System, serves a wide swath of the Gulf South region. With the inception of its Precision Cancer Therapies Program, created in partnership with the nonprofit medical research organization TGen, the Translational Genomics Research Institute, the cancer center has been able to expand availability of phase I clinical trials to patients who might otherwise have had to drive up to 5 or 6 hours to participate in one.

According to Marc Matrana, MD, MS, FACP, director of the Precision Cancer Therapies Program, the cutting-edge techniques and therapies used in the program have been able to extend patients’ lives by months or even years. In this video captured at the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 35th National Oncology Conference, Matrana described the benefits of the program, the advantages of next generation sequencing, and the impact the program has on the patients it serves.

The Ochsner Health System was awarded the 2018 ACCC Innovator Award for the program.