NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Jefferson Kimmel Cancer Center and the Star Health Network said on Thursday they have reached a deal providing access to the center's expertise in oncology and genomics to Star's partner hospitals in India.
Star, a New York-based preferred provider organization, has partnered with cancer institutions in India, which now will be able to access Kimmel's advanced molecular diagnostics and genomics testing. As part of the deal, DNA samples from cancer patients in India will be sent to Jefferson's molecular analysis laboratory in Philadelphia to identify mutations in cancer genes.
The partners said that the laboratory has already begun performing clinical genomic sequencing of patients and returned results with details about specific cancer gene alterations in a number of individual patient tumors. Also, oncologists at Kimmel are providing second-opinion consultations to physicians based in India via telemedicine methods.
Kimmel is one of 68 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers. In a statement, its Director, Richard Pestell, said the alliance with Star "is an important initiative that fulfills [the center's] mandate as an NCI-accredited institution, to collaborate with healthcare organizations around the world."