Patients & families
Our service is designed to make expert personalised cancer care more accessible to patients across Australia, no matter where they live.
We work with your doctor to interpret genetic testing and to explore how precision medicine may help guide your personalised treatment plan. Our goal is to create a care plan that is tailored to your specific needs, facilitating a coordinated care experience.
We accept online referrals from across Australia, and there is currently no cost to patients. Your treating doctor remains responsible for your care and our role is to provide additional expert advice.
If you would like to be referred to the Precision Care Clinic, the first step is to talk to your doctor to see if this clinic suits your needs and to ask for a referral. You can give them one of our downloadable resources explaining our clinic, if you wish. You will be asked to give informed consent to be referred to the clinic.
After we receive your referral from your doctor, our team of specialists will assess your case. Depending on your needs, your case may be reviewed and discussed by the specialists within our Molecular Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) based at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney. Your doctor can attend these online meetings if they wish. The specialists in the MDT will send a report to your referring doctor, together with recommendations that are tailored specifically to your cancer to support your ongoing care.
Some patients may attend an online consultation(s) with clinic specialists, but your doctor will remain your main point of care. If you wish, you can participate in additional, voluntary research activities that aim to improve access to personalised cancer care across Australia.
Download this information and learn more about cancer and genetics on our Resources page
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The Precision Care Clinic can help you and your doctor interpret the testing of your tumour to understand the specific nature of your cancer and to determine whether your test results can inform your treatment. Sometimes the test results can have other cancer risk implications for you or your close family members. Our team of specialists and genetic counsellors will work with your doctor to support them to use all the information available to guide your ongoing care.
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Your first step is to discuss the Precision Care Clinic with your doctor and ask if they think a referral to the clinic would be relevant. Your doctor will need to prepare the referral and send it with the requested information.
Our referring clinicians page has more information for doctors about the clinical services we offer.
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The Precision Care Clinic is currently funded by a research grant from the Australian government (the Medical Research Future Fund), so there is no direct cost to patients related to the genetic interpretation and insights offered through the MDT review and consultation. Please talk to your doctor if you have questions about indirect costs.
To support future policy and funding decisions, we invite doctors and patients to participate in our research and evaluation activities.
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Once your doctor sends us a referral, our team will review it and decide which services are most appropriate for you. Depending on your needs, this may include
- Case review by our Molecular Multidisciplinary Team (MDT), which is an online meeting of our clinical team at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney and your doctor is welcome to join.
- Consultation with the Medical Oncology or Cancer Genetics team. Our consultations can be held virtually, that is, over the phone or on the computer, so you don’t need to travel. During the consultation, we’ll gather relevant medical history and explain your testing results.
Our goal is to create a care plan that is tailored to your specific needs, facilitating a coordinated care experience. Your treating doctor will remain your primary point of contact throughout your care.
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Yes. Our research-led clinic was co-designed with consumer research partners and patients, and we are continuing to engage with patients and doctors to understand how to improve precision care across Australia.
We are actively recruiting patients, families and healthcare providers to understand their needs. When you are referred to our service, you will be invited to participate in the research, including through surveys and/or an interview.
Taking part in this additional research is voluntary. By choosing to participate, you can help to shape future policy and funding decisions around the future of precision oncology, directly help us to improve clinic services, and help us to make precision oncology a routine part of cancer care.
You can read more about our research here. You are welcome to contact the research team at pcci@unsw.edu.au for more information or to ask any questions.
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We highly value patient feedback and encourage you to share your experience with us. In addition to offering input by participating in our research activities, you are also welcome to contact us directly at pcci@unsw.edu.au.
“They used lay language and I didn’t feel rushed. It was very reassuring … knowing about future therapies and new research gives me hope.”
51-year-old female, regional Victoria, rare cancer diagnosis
Be involved
Contact us
P: 02 9382 5111
F: 02 9382 5090
E: seslhd-nccc-referrals@health.nsw.gov.au
E: precisioncareinitiative@unsw.edu.au
Visit us
Nelune Comprehensive Cancer Centre
Prince of Wales Hospital
Randwick NSW 2031