The Keystone Program in Personalized Risk and Prevention

The Plan

“Knowing your risk for cancer is only one part of the message of cancer prevention. We have the opportunity to take this knowledge of risk and translate it to a personalized assessment of what to do to mitigate your risk and develop interventions best suited to your genetic profile.” – Margie Clapper, Ph.D.

Under the umbrella of this Keystone Program, the assembled group of basic scientists and clinical investigators are uniquely poised to bring a prevention and early detection program to the forefront of the Fox Chase research agenda.

The Keystone program has led to the merger of all of the individual risk assessment programs at Fox Chase into one comprehensive program, called the Risk Assessment Program. The Risk Assessment Program now increases our ability to treat at-risk family members across multiple cancer types and makes it possible to study the interaction of genetic and environmental risk factors, such as diet, tobacco smoke and hormones, in cancer risk.

In addition, this Keystone Program has created new opportunities for scientists to comprehensively develop early biomarkers of risk novel screening technologies and preventive interventions. Their ability to work directly with clinicians will create new opportunities to discover effective molecular markers of cancer risk. In return, their input will enable patient care providers to work with researchers in translating emerging research into personalized prevention strategies.