COMBATTING CANCER: Health care systems, doctors and researchers are taking on North Carolina's No. 2 cause of death with new treatments and technologies.

• Author: Pressler, Alyssa
• Position: MEDICAL: HEART & CANCER CARE

Cancer prevention takes many forms. But for Windy Christy, knowledge is No. 1.

A physician assistant at UNC Health Southeastern's Gibson Cancer Center, Christy says between 5% and 10% of all cancers are thought to begin with mutations in certain genes. So, screening people to see if they carry hereditary cancer syndromes is an important first step.

Christy enrolled in a six-month long City of Hope Intensive Course in Cancer Risk Assessment, which helped her better understand the needs of cancer risk assessment and genetic testing in and around Lumberton, home to Gibson Cancer Center. She found there was a need for cancer monitoring among those who were genetically predisposed to different cancers.

Gibson Cancer Center expanded its offerings to meet the needs that Christy identified. "The High-Risk Screening and Genetic Testing Clinic provides cancer screening, chemo-prevention and genetic risk evaluation for individuals at increased risk of certain cancers," she says. These patients are called cancer previvors--a person who takes action to reduce or eliminate a genetic condition before cancer develops.

Cancer is the No. 2 cause of death in North Carolina. It caused about 150 deaths per 100,00 residents in 2020, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the fight is on to change that. Health care systems statewide are improving their cancer care practices by developing technologies and assembling more efficient and comprehensive treatment plans, which improve patient experiences.

Cone Health in Greensboro launched Fuse Oncology last year. It's an independent company whose sole purpose is developing technologies that solve cancer-care issues. BJ Sintay, Cone Health's executive director of radiation oncology and chief physicist, is its CEO. Fuse raised $3 million in its first seed round with no additional funding from Cone Health.

Sintay says Fuse's goal is to accelerate the timeline of cancer care by improving the disjointed technology already being used in the field. "We know health care takes a lot of time--a lot longer than we want," he says. "Especially in cancer care, delays cause additional problems and even death. We have a goal of making care happen within 24 hours of someone deciding to receive care. We can't leave any provider or patient behind. We've got to get really innovative, and we have to say we know it's hard and no one wants to bite into this challenging problem, but Fuse Oncology is doing it."

Fuse has...