VA National Oncology Program Office
Our Mission:
To improve the lives of Veterans with cancer through Precision Medicine by implementing a learning healthcare model to quickly transition new knowledge into clinical practice and to maximize learning from clinical practice.
Our Vision:
To help Veterans with cancer live better lives, we provide VA doctors with new tools. This helps doctors find the best drugs and doses for your needs. As a result, this may shorten your treatment time. You may also have fewer side effects during treatment.
What we learn is applied direct to patient care and used to improve doctor's tools. This progress means that Veterans will keep getting the best care -- anywhere.
Our Programs:
Information for Veterans, families and caregivers:
Veteran Testimonial
PHASER Testing
Resources
Veteran Testimonial
Veteran, Pat McGuire, talks about his experience with genetic testing.
PHASER Testing
The VA has a new program called PHASER, that offers genetic testing to tell us how your body responds to about thirty commonly used medicines. Although you might not be on one of these medicines now, we know that half of patients will be given one of those medicines in the next three years.
Test results can help your doctor decide what is the right medicine and dose, which could reduce your treatment time and side effects. The test results for this one-time blood test, are stored in your patient chart, so your doctor will have access to the results when needed. If you have questions or are interested, please talk with your doctor so they can order the PHASER test.
Resources
Publications
Aug 08, 2019, "Genomic Analysis of Metastatic Solid Tumors in Veterans: Findings from the VHA National Precision Oncology Program," avialable online at http://ascopubs.org/journal/po.