Ochsner Health is a system that delivers health to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate.
Ochsner Health announced today that it is being honored with a 2018 Innovator Award by the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) at the organization’s 35th National Oncology Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona this week. Now in its eighth year, the Innovator Awards recognize ACCC member programs that have created inventive solutions to challenges commonly faced by cancer programs and practices, as well as by multidisciplinary cancer care teams. The award specifically honors Ochsner Cancer Institute’s Precision Cancer Therapy Program (PCTP), a partnership with non-profit Translational Genomics Institute (TGen), which offers early-phase clinical trials to Ochsner cancer patients. Ochsner was one of only seven programs nationwide to receive an ACCC Innovator Award.
“We are proud to receive this award that recognizes our clinical and research innovations that allow Ochsner to deliver the most advanced care possible to patients throughout the Gulf South,” says Brian Moore, M.D., FACS, Director of the Ochsner Cancer Institute. “The TGen partnership enables us to offer cutting edge clinical trials in the Ochsner system. This allows patients to stay close to home while benefitting from our precision approach to cancer treatment with the newest targeted agents and immune therapies.”
Ochsner officials will present the PCTP program at the ACCC’s 35th National Oncology Conference including a specially produced video. The PCTP combines Ochsner’s clinical expertise with the translational science of TGen, a non-profit biomedical research organization at the forefront of drug discovery and development. Early phase clinical trials afford patients the opportunity to receive innovative therapies before they are widely available.
“Since we announced this partnership and introduced the PCTP in 2017, we have seen a very positive response from our patients from across the Gulf South. The program provides access to modern molecular medicine and customized treatment plans based on the most up-to-date research and data. It also offers patients access to specialty support staff to help with all aspects of their cancer care. The PCTP places our physicians at the forefront of cancer treatment, particularly testing of tumor genetics to match a patient with genetically appropriate therapies,” says Marc Matrana, M.D., Medical Director of the Ochsner PCTP.
To date, the program has surpassed all internal goals: hundreds of patients from around the Gulf Coast region have undergone next generation genetic sequencing to screen them for both trials and non-trial treatment protocols. Dr. Matrana expects more than 100 Ochsner cancer patients will benefit from enrollment in early phase trials in 2018.
About Ochsner Health System
Ochsner Health is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, healthcare system. Driven by a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate, coordinated clinical and hospital patient care is provided across the region by Ochsner's 30 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and more than 80 health centers and urgent care centers. Ochsner is the only Louisiana hospital recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Hospital” across three specialty categories caring for patients from all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide each year. Ochsner employs more than 19,000 employees and over 1,200 physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts more than 700 clinical research studies. Ochsner Health is proud to be a tobacco-free environment. For more information, please visit ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
About the Association of Community Cancer Centers
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) is the leading education and advocacy organization for the multidisciplinary cancer care team. ACCC is a powerful network of 24,000 cancer care professionals from over 2,100 hospitals and practices nationwide. ACCC is recognized as the premier provider of resources for the entire oncology care team. For more information, visit ACCC's website at www.accc-cancer.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and read our blog, ACCCBuzz.