Precision Oncology Consultation Service

Frequently Asked Questions

The Precision Oncology Consultation Service at Texas Children’s Hospital treats children and young adults (< Age 25) who have cancers which are no longer responsive to standard treatment options. This service uses advanced gene sequencing techniques to discover genetic vulnerabilities specific to your child’s tumor.

Who does the Precision Oncology Consultation Service serve?

There are three types of children who may benefit from services of the Precision Oncology Consultation Service:

Children with cancer who have either relapsed and/or are refractory to standard of care treatments. If your child has received the standard of care and is no longer responsive to treatment they may benefit from a consultation.

Children who have rare tumors and have limited standard of care treatment options. If your child has developed rare tumors that lack a standard of care

Children with rare, refractory and/or relapsed tumors who are seeking placement in clinical trials for experimental therapeutics. The Precision Oncology Consultation Service can work with your child’s existing healthcare team to assist in identifying suitable clinical trial for experimental therapeutics. 

Services provided by the Precision Oncology Consultation Service

Molecular tumor profiling in support of developing a treatment plan. The Precision Oncology Consultation Service obtains and interprets clinically relevant genetic data using state-of-the-art sequencing and data analysis techniques. Texas Children’s Cancer Center clinicians with genomic and tumor-specific expertise use this data to better understand the behavior and vulnerabilities of rare, relapsed, and/or refractory tumors, to identify potential treatment strategies.

Identification of suitable clinical trials for experimental therapeutics. The Precision Oncology Consultation Service can work with its national network to identify clinical trials using experimental therapeutics that exploit specific vulnerabilities within rare, relapsed and/or refractory tumors. The Precision Oncology Consultation Service is also available to coordinate molecular tumor profiling helpful to determining clinical trial eligibility. This approach may allow patients to access therapeutics potentially years away from general availability.