Swedish Cancer Institute Elevates Personalized Medicine Program with Innovative Software Platform

SEATTLE, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Swedish Cancer Institute (SCI), one of the Northwest's leading cancer treatment centers, announced today the adoption of Syapse Precision Medicine Platform to enhance its Personalized Medicine Program. The innovative software platform will enable clinicians to better integrate genomic information into patient care and move critical cancer research forward.

The Personalized Medicine Program, launched in April 2014, combines advanced treatments based on the "molecular fingerprint" of a tumor with individualized emotional and physical supportive care. SCI's gene alteration panel, developed in partnership with CellNetix Pathology & Laboratories, is based on a focused set of gene alterations that are most relevant to cancer treatments. By combining gene alteration data with the clinical decision support of the Syapse platform, patients may receive tailored therapies or targeted clinical trials specific to their molecular fingerprint instead of treatments based solely on the origin of their cancer.

"SCI's Personalized Medicine Program bridges the gap between community-based care and cutting-edge research by offering genomics-driven treatment to all eligible cancer patients, not just those who have failed second or third lines of therapy," said Thomas Brown, M.D., Executive Director of the Swedish Cancer Institute. "SCI plans to enroll 9,000 patients in the program during its first three years, and the Syapse platform will be instrumental in advancing this work."

Syapse Precision Medicine Platform enables the use of large-scale genomic and clinical data to support the patient's whole cancer care journey, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment and well-being (survivorship). This platform integrates with SCI's enterprise electronic medical record and allows the treatment team to mine patient data and research results to identify which treatments work best for tumors with particular gene alterations. The platform will include the profiles of thousands of individual tumors, making it one of the largest databases of its kind with direct relevance to and day-to-day impact on cancer care.

The new platform will also help propel SCI's research program and clinical trials forward. Patients will soon have access to early/Phase I clinical trials at The Reid Family Innovative Therapeutics and Research Unit at the Swedish Cancer Institute. These early trials offer novel agents and therapies to patients for whom standard therapies are not available, or not an option.

For more information about SCI's Personalized Medicine Program, visit www.swedishcancerinstitute.org.

About The Swedish Cancer Institute 
Since 1932, the Swedish Cancer Institute (SCI) has offered services to help patients fight cancer. SCI has cared for more patients than any other Northwest cancer-treatment center, with treatment services offered in seven locations throughout the Puget Sound region. In 2009, Swedish launched its first program to map the gene activity in brain tumors at its Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment. In addition to providing patients access to the latest in approved cancer treatments, Swedish is also one of the largest clinical-trial sites in the Western United States, with more than 700 active trials, including approximately 200 associated with SCI. This provides patients with access to the latest in treatment options that could provide the ideal approach to fighting their own individual cancers. SCI's team is made up of world-class oncologists focused on cancer care and treatment, using medication, radiation and other therapies, while offering complimentary services that address patients' psychological, emotional and spiritual needs.

About Swedish
Founded in 1910, Swedish is the largest non-profit health provider in the Greater Seattle area. It is comprised of five hospital campuses (First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, Edmonds and Issaquah); ambulatory care centers in Redmond and Mill Creek; and Swedish Medical Group, a network of more than 100 primary-care and specialty clinics located throughout the Greater Puget Sound area. In addition to general medical and surgical care including robotic-assisted surgery, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatric specialties, organ transplantation and clinical research. In 2013, Swedish provided nearly $143 million in community benefit in Western Washington. For more information, visit www.swedish.org, www.facebook.com/swedishmedicalcenter, or www.twitter.com/swedish.

About Syapse
Syapse software enables healthcare providers to deploy precision medicine programs. Leading academic and community healthcare providers use the Syapse Precision Medicine Data Platform to integrate complex genomic and clinical data to provide clinicians with actionable insights at point of care, enabling diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes tracking. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Syapse is backed by The Social+Capital Partnership and Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE). For more information, visit www.syapse.com.

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SOURCE Swedish Cancer Institute

Related Links

http://www.swedishcancerinstitute.org