Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center First in New Jersey to Launch a Comprehensive Program to Prevent and Pre-empt Cancer
Hackensack Meridian Health’s new Hennessy Institute for Cancer Prevention and Applied Molecular Medicine partners with CancerIQ to provide groundbreaking cancer risk assessment tool
December 11, 2024
Hackensack Meridian Health's John Theurer Cancer Center recently launched a cancer risk and early cancer detection program - Hennessy Institute for Cancer Prevention and Applied Molecular Medicine - to better identify cancer risk in individuals and enable earlier diagnosis.
The Hackensack Meridian Health network is the first in New Jersey to offer this comprehensive, early detection and cancer risk management, joining a few programs in the nation in the broader endeavor of conducting cancer screening at scale, and cancer interception. The venture is a partnership between the Hennessy Institute and CancerIQ, a best-in-class cancer-focused precision health platform, to launch a groundbreaking new program that aims to improve access to inform cancer risk care, shift cancer diagnoses to earlier stages, and reduce cancer burden at scale.
It is well established that earlier diagnosis translates into better outcomes. For example, the 5-year survival for cancers such as pancreatic and lung - typically diagnosed late - goes from 10-15% in advanced stage cancer to over 80-85% survival in early stage. In addition, roughly 10% of all cancers are hereditary with known genetic risk factors. New developments in molecular cancer blood screening have the potential to help with early cancer detection or detection of persistent minimal residual cancer cells.
With the new tool, individuals will complete a short but comprehensive cancer risk assessment from CancerIQ, an oncology-focused precision health platform. The easy-to-use tool asks individuals simple questions about their personal and family medical history as well as lifestyle factors. If the assessment flags a patient as having a higher risk of cancer, team members will personally speak with the person about their options and design a personalized plan for early cancer detection and prevention. The free assessment tool is open to the public.
Serving New Jersey and the surrounding area, the Hennessy Institute has physicians, nurse practitioners and genetic counselors as well as navigators and researchers working in partnership with the CancerIQ platform.
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If you are a patient looking for expert cancer care at Hackensack Meridian Health, please visit our cancer care services page to learn about our specialties, find locations, and schedule appointments.
