Kokilaben Hospital launches Hereditary Cancer Clinic: Importance of precision oncology and personalized cancer care

Pioneering the mission of personalized patient care, Kokilaben Hospital leads in terms of early detection as to provide best treatment to cancer patients. The integration of genomics into the health care system has transformed the overall enterprise of life sciences with successful implementation of Precision Oncology. Kokilaben Hospital aims to provide a supportive journey to all cancer patients by providing a treatment strategy that is tailored to their unique genetic profile and build a personalized therapy customized for every patient. This provides an insight into choosing the effective treatment options like chemotherapy, targeted therapy or Immunotherapies, based on individual patient genetic makeup which crucially helps in the decision of treatment choice.

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱

Kokilaben Hospital has dedicated in-house Molecular pathology and cancer genomics laboratory with inbuilt technologies and facilities like Next generation sequencing. The Molecular Tumor Board convenes experts in Surgical oncology, Medical oncology, Molecular Pathology and oncology, Radiation Oncology, Hematology, Histopathology, and clinical trials to discuss the best options for individual patients, based on the genomic alterations present in their cancer. In some cases, germline alterations detected in the patients normal DNA are also evaluated with the assistance of genetic counselors. These meetings are organized to help address diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic questions and best possible clinical care decisions for their patients.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁?

Genetic testing for cancer may help in estimation of an individual’s lifetime risk of developing cancer by identifying specific genetic change. These gene variants may have harmful, beneficial, neutral, unknown, or uncertain effects in cancer risk. Up to 10 percent of all cancers may have a genetic cause. Hence, identification of these mutations in patient could help in improving patient care, including early detection, management, prognosis, risk reduction, use of targeted therapy and also understanding the implications for other family members.

The test results can help individuals and their healthcare providers understand their risk of developing cancer and make more informed decisions about preventive measures, such as increased screening or risk-reducing surgeries. The results can also inform the medical management of patients with a personal or family history of cancer.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀?

Hereditary cancers are known to be genetic and the mutations are passed down in family members. People with positive variants in genes may present with hereditary cancer syndrome and are at a higher risk of getting certain cancers.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀?

Hereditary cancer syndromes can be associated with a variety of cancers, including breast, ovarian, colon, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and others.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰?

Hereditary Cancer Clinic is a specialized medical facility that focuses on diagnosing and managing hereditary cancer syndromes. These clinics offer genetic counselling, testing, and personalized cancer risk assessments to individuals who have a family history of cancer or who may be at an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗻

Hospital Mumbai focuses on personalized cancer care. Pre-test Genetic counselling is provided prior to testing and followed by post-test genetic consultations to help patients understand the test result and risks associated with it. A complete follow-up care to plan cancer prevention, timely surveillance and to provide individual personalized treatment strategies is arranged.

𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹

Hereditary cancer is caused due to germline mutations /changes in genes that are passed from parents to offspring. Germline cancer panel testing typically includes the analysis of several cancer-related genes simultaneously, which may include genes such as BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, and PTEN, among others. These genes are known to be associated with an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer, such as breast, ovarian, colon, prostate, lung, thyroid, bladder, hepatic cancers, melanoma, glioma, sarcomas and pancreatic cancer. The test results can help individuals and their healthcare providers understand their risk of developing cancer and therefore make more informed decisions about preventive measures, such as increased screening or risk-reducing surgeries.

Specialists at Kokilaben Hospital provide comprehensive genetic evaluations and testing based on 113 genes associated with cancers for patients whose family or personal history indicates they are at high risk of developing cancer. Kokilaben hospital is the only institute in the cancer offering such a broad panel of evaluation.

𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹

Kokilaben is the only Healthcare Institute in India to launch the PanPredict Lung cancer Panel on 11 predictive genes for both mutations and fusions (167 variants) mandatory for testing in advanced lung cancers. This test will be performed using Real time – PCR which shows a very high sensitivity, specificity and turnaround time of only 5 days. This will be a game changer to help to improvise the treatment regime with an early effective strategy and patients will not have to wait for a month to start the treatment.

𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀

Kokilaben Hospital aims to make the centre of excellence of cancer as one of the biggest centre of genomic testing in India with personalized medicine and the treatments based on Cancer genomics. The hospital has invested into building up the population based genomic database of cancer patients to help understand the actionability of drugs.

Kokilaben Hospital has also subsidized the costs of genomic testing to make it more affordable. There are plans to invest and introduce in new technology to reduce the cost further.