The Dallas-based Susan G. Komen breast cancer nonprofit organization and United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca want to make life a little easier for breast cancer patients and care providers.

Susan G. Komen teamed up with AstraZeneca to improve patient navigation for cancer patients and caregivers. Patient navigation offers help maneuvering the health care system, knocking down barriers to care and tapping into cancer-related resources.

The Komen-AstraZeneca partnership will build the Navigation Infrastructure Collaboration. The initiative aims to help patients better understand diagnoses and treatment options, coordinate appointments, manage health insurance challenges and find financial assistance.

Victoria Smart is senior vice president of mission at the Dallas-based nonprofit Susan G. Komen. [Photo: Susan G. Komen]

The collaborative effort “seeks to change the current support model so that patient navigation is available across all care systems and ZIP codes and not limited by what individual providers can offer,” Victoria Smart, senior vice president of mission at Susan G. Komen, said in a statement.

Smart said many patients and their caregivers encounter issues with obtaining high-quality care and life-saving treatments.

“The next breakthrough in cancer care may not come from the lab; it may be from breaking down the barriers that stand between patients and the cures,” she said.

Improving access to care

About 30% of cancer patients receive care outside accredited programs, which can create a gap in navigation capabilities, Komen said. This gap could cause delays in diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care. In its last fiscal year, Komen’s Patient Care Center provided navigation services to almost 13,000 people.

Smart told Dallas Innovates the Navigation Infrastructure Collaboration will set up a Komen-run virtual patient navigation service that incorporates local hospitals and clinics.

“Instead of requiring every hospital or clinic to build and sustain supportive patient navigation programs — which requires investments in staff, technology, training and more for each setting — care teams can connect patients with Komen’s Patient Care Center, which already has this infrastructure in place to provide telehealth-based support,” Smart said.

This system will directly help patients while easing burdens on health care providers, she said.

Navigation study

As part of the collaboration, a Komen-AstraZeneca study will identify best practices for establishing centralized, collaborative patient navigation. Smart said the study could lead to navigation services for all cancer patients, not just those with breast cancer. The study will run through February 2028.

During the study, several pilot sites will test patient navigation services, Smart said.

“Those findings will inform a final national policy roadmap and recommendations for broader adoption … Our goal is to measure whether barriers identified have been resolved, continuity of care has been preserved and whether patient distress has been reduced,” she said.

More about AstraZeneca

Alison Dziarmaga, vice president and head of the breast cancer franchise at AstraZeneca, said in a statement the company teamed up with Komen to expand access to patient navigation “for those who need it most.”

Alison Dziarmaga is vice president and head of the breast cancer franchise at AstraZeneca. [Photo: Susan G. Komen]

“Navigating breast cancer care can be complex, and no one should have to face it alone. Patient navigation provides trusted guidance and helps address barriers that may delay or disrupt care,” Dziarmaga said. “At AstraZeneca, we believe scientific innovation has the greatest impact when patients can access the care they need.”

AstraZeneca ranks as one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The company, which makes several drugs for breast cancer patients, employs nearly 18,000 people in the U.S. That includes workers at a manufacturing plant in Coppell.

Last year, AstraZeneca completed a $445 million upgrade of the Coppell plant. The plant makes Lokelma, which treats high levels of potassium in the blood. As of last October, the facility employed more than 250 people.

AstraZeneca acquired San Mateo, California-based ZS Pharma for $2.7 billion in 2015. ZS graduated from a tech incubator in Fort Worth and had offices in Coppell.