Dive Brief:
- MD Anderson Cancer Center and San Diego-based Scripps Health are in talks to discuss a potential partnership, The San Diego-Union Tribune reported.
- Their plans were outlines to Scripps donors during a meeting on June 22.
- The CDC expects the number of new cancer cases in the country to increase by approximately 24% in men and about 21% in women between 2010 and 2020.
Dive Insight:
According to the Tribune, mum has been the word regarding the details of the potential partnership. However, such a communion could see MD Anderson bringing its cancer care expertise into the San Diego market.
As merger and partnership activity continues throughout the U.S., health systems are looking for opportunities to add expertise to their business lines in areas in which they may be lacking.
"Nationwide, medical systems are moving aggressively to increase the size and scope of their cancer programs," the Tribune stated. "They are reacting to projections from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that new cancer diagnoses will increase by more than 20% in less than five years, adding nearly 2 million new cases per year."
The talks also come as the baby boomer population is aging into needing more care services.
In addition, the discussions come as major efforts for cancer prevention and treatment have taken the national spotlight with efforts like Vice President Joe Biden's cancer moonshot initiative and genomic sequencing. At the Health Datapalooza conference in May, Biden argued for using data and computing power to gain insights into cancer and its treatment via genomics, lifestyles, and genetic changes.
Another national cancer care effort recently announced was the NIH's launch of a collaborative research project for a study aimed at analyzing the genetic and biological factors involved in high breast cancer risk among black women.