Stanford Launches New Cancer Initiative

FROM STANFORD CANCER INSTITUTE NEWS
WINTER 2013

Stanford has begun a sweeping effort to change the way the world sees cancer. The Stanford Cancer Initiative is a joint project of the School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital & Clinics, and directed by the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI), to invest at least $250 million in philanthropic contributions across four critical areas:

• Creating a new standard of cancer care
• Targeting the toughest cancers
• Capturing the power of Stanford science
• Seizing the innovations of our age

The Initiative’s launch is currently being propel led by a $125 million gift from an anonymous group of generous and visionary donors. The School of Medicine is undertaking a campaign to raise the additional $125 million in the coming years to fully realize the Initiative’s goals. SCI’s rapid and strategic growth has enabled it to take on this extraordinary opportunity to create the world’s leading cancer program.

“The Stanford Cancer Initiative is the result of seamless cooperation across the University and the exceptional generosity of our community,” said SCI Director Beverly Mitchell, MD. “Our goal is nothing
short of changing both the prognosis and the patient experience of cancer.”

Creating a New Standard of Cancer Care
The Initiative aims to design and implement an integrated set of concepts and practices to create a new cancer care model that is comprehensive, multidisciplinary, highly coordinated and structured around the unique needs of each individual patient. Stanford aims to be a national model for efficient and effective cancer treatment by combining leading-edge technology with smart, compassionate care that both informs and empowers patients.

The model for transforming the patient experience begins with the initial contact, prompt appointment scheduling, engaging the patient and family in their care goals and decision-making, and assigning a Multidisciplinary Care Coordinator (MCC) to help lead the entire cancer care process for the patient.

“The Multidisciplinary Care Coordinators are designed to take on the complexity of coordinating the cancer care process and thus allow patients and their families to focus on the healing” said Sridhar Seshadri, PhD, Vice President, Cancer Service Line.

In conjunction with the lead physician, the MCC functions as a “cancer companion” to advise, guide, support and advocate for the patient’s interests and desires throughout their cancer journey. If desired, a patient’s loved one is welcomed to the team, forming a cancer “care circle” of patient, doctor,
family member and the specially trained Care Coordinator.

The goal is to transform the cancer patient experience from one where patients are often left on their own to navigate many complex logistical and care decisions, while trying to cope with a life turned upside down by a single word. Stanford’s vision will create an experience where patients feel empowered and supported by the professionals who guide them through their cancer treatment and participate in the important decisions with them, as expert partners. It will be an experience where research, technology, compassion and skill all come together so that every patient can be confident of the quality of their care and the expectation of the longest, highest quality life possible.

Some patients with particularly challenging cancers will receive genetic analysis to potentially increase their treatment options, and with permission, their samples will be anonymously stored to aid future research. Over time, it is possible that genetic profiling of individuals and their tumors will become standard treatment for cancer patients.

Genetic counseling and cancer clinical trial support will also be provided early in the care continuum, and innovative new information and col laboration technologies—such as remote monitoring, video chats and “e -Visits”—will streamline care while reducing travel time, inconvenience and expense.

And these innovations won’t stop with cancer care. Stanford will take the lessons learned through the Cancer Initiative and apply them to other complex diseases requiring coordinated multidisciplinary
care teams. Cancer is the model for a new era of comprehensive, data-driven and patient-centered care for a range of difficult conditions.

Stanford also recognizes that there is no more rapid way to improve the patient experience than to reach patients receiving inadequate treatment. SCI’s Community Partnership Program works with local health-care providers and community organizations to reduce discrepancies in cancer care and outcomes among lower income and minority populations. Solutions involve raising awareness of available resources, increasing coordination with Stanford cancer physicians and boosting enrollment of underserved populations in cancer clinical trials.

Underpinning all of these efforts is the unwavering commitment to deliver complete and compassionate care for every cancer patient who enters the Stanford system. Ultimately, though, changing the cancer patient experience requires that we radically improve outcomes, survival rates and quality of life over the current treatment standards. To do so the Stanford Cancer Initiative will invest in the people, technology and systems that will spur innovative research and speed discoveries to patients.

Tackling the Toughest Cancers
Over the past 40 years, medical science—including that conducted at Stanford—has made great strides against some cancers, such as lymphoma, childhood leukemias and certain solid tumors. However, in
an environment of limited resources, numerous research ideas get left unexplored and many early discoveries are not fully developed due to lack of support. In no case is this more true than in the types of cancer that have proven very difficult to treat, and these are among the challenges the Stanford
Cancer Initiative is intended to meet.

The Initiative seeks to change the prognosis for the most lethal cancers by identifying the best researchers and physicians anywhere in the world and recruiting them to join our talented cadre of investigators, and then provide an unparalleled environment for collaboration. With this pool of expertise and a targeted focus, we hope to convert the most deadly cancers into conditions that may be treated, managed and, very possibly, prevented.

The Power of Stanford Science
Working to improve cancer care is certainly not unique to Stanford, but the Initiative takes the things that make Stanford exceptional and applies them to every aspect of cancer research and treatment. For example, combining strengths in genomics and bioinformatics, Stanford’s multidisciplinary cancer care teams are beginning to base treatment plans on some patient’s genetic profile—and that of their tumor—to identify specific drug compounds or combinations that will be most effective for them. And the care doesn’t end when the treatment does; patients will receive long-term monitoring and followup that incorporates genetic predictors to minimize risk of their cancer recurring.

Immunotherapy—treatments that empower the body’s immune system to eradicate disease—is another Stanford strength, and a resurgent area of cancer research. Investigators are testing several promising approaches to boost patients’ immune response to cancer cells and provide more targeted, less toxic therapy than the current standard of care.

When discoveries are made, whether in immunotherapy, stem cell medicine or other promising fields, it is critical to test them in patients as soon, and as safely, as possible. The new Freidenrich Center for Translation Research (FCTR) gives Stanford an edge by providing a centralized home for conducting and monitoring cancer clinical trials. The FCTR consolidates Stanford’s many clinical trial specialists to enhance efficiency and promote synergy among investigators, research personnel, care providers and, most importantly, the patients they study and treat.

Seizing the Innovations of Our Age
To keep the FCTR buzzing and the clinical trials pipeline full, the Stanford Cancer Initiative is also investing in novel and impactful research, and the bri l liant minds that conceive of it. In addition to supporting Stanford’s many cancer research and treatment experts, new faculty are actively being recruited to enrich the School of Medicine’s tradition of discovery and innovation.

Leveraging the breadth and depth of its research enterprise, its partnerships with Silicon Valley and its propensity to explore across disciplinary lines, Stanford will also create faculty and graduate student awards to fuel advances—the high-risk, high-reward research ideas that can propel cancer care forward. And it will assemble flexible funds that allow SCI leadership to respond quickly to new opportunities as they arise. The payoffs promise to extend even beyond cancer.

In fact, the Initiative itself is designed to be adaptable to new research discoveries as well as responsive to a new level of internal monitoring and analysis. The same evidence-based review and scientific rigor used in basic research will be applied to every aspect of this ambitious effort, and only those practices that are proven to deliver better outcomes for cancer patients will be continued. Stanford’s people, processes and technologies will be assessed and refined with each patient encounter, and every patient should feel confident that they chose the right medical partner for their cancer diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

The possibilities that lie ahead in cancer are profound. The Stanford Cancer Initiative puts Stanford at the forefront of realizing the best possible experience for cancer patients in the near term, and reducing the incidence of cancer in the years to come.

Original article appeared in Stanford Cancer Institute News.