Precision Medicine

Precision medicine gives you care options when standard treatments such as chemotherapy and cancer surgery fail to stop cancer. We offer expertise and a broad range of cancer drugs. You receive cancer treatments designed specifically for you. 

Precision Medicine at MultiCare Regional Cancer Center: Why Choose Us?

MultiCare Regional Cancer Center offers promising new cancer care options, including precision medicine. This treatment delivers a level of personalized care that has previously not been available. We examine the genetic makeup of your cancer and prescribe the anti-cancer drugs that give you the best chances for good results.

Highlights of our program include:

• Expertise: Our team includes a doctor with additional training in genetics (medical geneticist). Our geneticist works with cancer patients on a regular basis. The result is highly accurate genetic testing results – even for rare cancers. Meet our cancer care team.
   
• Timely access: Tumor boards are meetings where we coordinate every step of your care. Teams of cancer experts including oncologists with fellowship training and research coordinators consider every available option, including precision medicine. If precision medicine is right for you, we help you get started as quickly as possible. Read more about tumor boards.
   
• Innovative care: MultiCare’s participation in cancer research gives you close-to-home access to national clinical trials. Our research interests include new cancer drugs and precision medicine, bringing you the latest care options. Learn more about cancer research and clinical trials.
   
• Safety: We are the only cancer center in the South Puget Sound whose team includes both oncology pharmacists and a cardio-oncologist. Pharmacists specializing in cancer drugs monitor your treatments to make sure you receive the right dose.

More Information About Precision Medicine

Previously, people with the same cancer diagnosis would receive the same treatments. For example, all women with breast cancer that had spread to other areas of the body would receive the same cancer drugs.

Through research, we now know that not all cancers are alike. With precision medicine, we consider the genetic makeup of each individual cancer. You receive cancer drugs based on what’s going on within the cancer cells, at the molecular level. This individualized approach helps many people achieve excellent results.

Precision Medicine: How It Works

If precision medicine is right for you, we evaluate samples of your tissue to pinpoint the abnormalities causing the cancer, a process called next-generation gene sequencing. We then determine the cancer treatments that are most likely to work on those abnormalities. 

Your care may include:

• Chemotherapy, which uses drugs that destroy cancer cells
• Targeted therapies, which are cancer drugs that interfere with specific molecules in cancer cells to prevent them from growing
• Immunotherapy, an innovative treatment that trains your immune system to identify and fight cancer cells
• Current cancer drugs that are not typically used for a particular diagnosis (off-label use)
• New cancer drugs that are only available through clinical trials

Contact Us

For more information or to request an appointment, please call us at 253-403-6399 or complete our appointment request form.