Hackensack Meridian Health announced it launched a cancer risk and early detection program at the health system’s Hennessy Institute for Cancer Prevention and Applied Molecular Medicine in partnership with oncology-focused precision-health technology company CancerIQ, aimed at improving early diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

The program integrates advanced technology, genomics and AI into real-time electronic health record (EHR) workflows to streamline comprehensive cancer risk assessments and personalized care plans. 

The HMH program includes a CancerIQ tool that collects personal and family medical histories and lifestyle factors to identify individuals with a higher cancer risk.

Patients identified as high-risk are provided with personalized early detection and prevention strategies.

The program also leverages molecular cancer screening techniques, such as liquid biopsies, to detect cancer at its earliest stages by identifying genetic materials released into the bloodstream.

“This new program opens an entire new field in cancer, from preventing cancer in someone with genetic risk factors to detecting cancer earlier and reducing cancer recurrence,” Andre Goy, chairman and executive director of John Theurer Cancer Center, said in a statement.

The initiative is part of HMH’s Hennessy Institute for Cancer Prevention and Applied Molecular Medicine (HICAP) and will be offered at the newly established Cancer Center at Totowa, N.J., with plans to expand to Clifton, N.J., in early 2025.

THE LARGER TREND

The World Health Organization estimates that between 30% to 50% of all cancer cases are preventable and improved access to genetic testing helps screen, test and identify more people who may be at risk.

In a January interview with MobiHealthNews, Feyi Ayodele, founder and CEO of CancerIQ, described the benefits of personalized care plans and advanced technologies to help providers detect cancer early.

“The more we learn about the relationship between cancer and our genes and other factors as the science evolves, we should be able to act on that knowledge. Essentially, what we do is we make it so that your everyday provider can use that information and design a personalized care plan,” Ayodele said. 

Cancer IQ secured $14 million in Series B funding in 2020, two years after raising $4.8 million in Series A financing. 

On Thursday, the Chicago-based company announced it secured growth funding from Decathlon Capital Partners, but it did not make the amount raised public. 

Other companies in the precision oncology space include GE HealthCare and BAMF Health, which recently partnered to bolster the adoption of theranostics. 

Theranostics combines diagnostic imaging and targeted therapy to enable personalized treatment by identifying and directly treating cancer cells.