TriStar Health Systems announced recently that it has tapped Jon Connor to serve as its new administrator of oncology services.

In his new role, Connor will be responsible for the overall strategic direction of oncology services for TriStar Health, working to ensure all TriStar Sarah Cannon Cancer Centers share the same vision of providing high quality, integrated cancer care.  He will also continue to serve the Sarah Cannon Cancer Services team to help develop programmatic initiatives that are focused on physician-led, patient-centric care throughout core markets in HCA.

Brentwood-based RegionalCare Hospital Partners has applied to build a $19.4 million cancer treatment center next to a proposed replacement Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in northern Alabama. But the company led by Marty Rash looks set to run into opposition from nearby Helen Keller Hospital, one of five facilities also fighting RegionalCare's Eliza Coffee plans.

A California radiation oncology venture has acquired a stake in Prologics, a five-year-old Franklin-based company that provides various services to hospitals. Integrated Oncology Network also has invested in Prologics' Northern Ohio Regional Cancer Center.

"The opportunity to work along side of ION as a partner at this stage of our companies’ growth will enable us to build a stronger footprint and strategic platform to meet the needs of our ever changing healthcare market. The combination of our talented teams will provide the market with a unique alternative to that of the existing competitive landscape."

This month's Nashville Medical News profiles the very promising cancer treatment technologies being tested and rolled out at various sites by Brentwood-based DiaTech Oncology. The company's main procedure appears to predict much more accurately than previous tests the effectiveness of drugs on cancerous cells.

“Patients are asking why this hasn’t been the standard of care, but the technology just wasn’t available until now,” Rogers said. “For decades we’ve been treating patients through trial and error because, unfortunately, we can’t pinpoint each patient’s individual biology based on past patients. We’ve been talking a lot about giving patients personalized cancer care, and instead of treating it by tissue of origin, we can now tell what each tumor is specifically sensitive to.”

The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has opened a clinic in the Freeman Webb Building on Bedford Avenue in Green Hills and added oncologist Hammad Rashid to its staff there. VICC also runs clinics in Cool Springs and near Williamson Medical Center.

Saint Thomas Health has launched a new program to help individuals better understand their risks of hereditary cancers. The Family Cancer Risk Services program is led by Susie Caro, a registered nurse and nurse practitioner who previously led a similar program for the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

“Up to 10 percent of certain cancers are hereditary and involve an inherited gene mutation. Specific cancer genes are linked to several types of cancer,” said Caro. “Many fear that cancer may run in their family, yet are reluctant to seek consultation or consider genetic testing. We want to help reduce that fear through counseling and risk assessments and if desired, genetic testing."