W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, FASCO, urged a systemic shift toward integrated, technology-driven oncology care that prioritizes equity and access in a keynote address at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. In “Meeting Patients With Cancer Where They Are—The Role of Dyad Partnerships in Oncology,” Rathmell urged collaboration between academic centers and community practices to simplify the patient journey and accelerate research.
Rathmell, CEO of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and former director of the National Cancer Institute, said scientific advances are outpacing the health system’s ability to deliver care broadly, particularly in rural areas. She noted geographic isolation contributes to disparate mortality and lower research participation, and called for models that bring clinical trials and specialist expertise into community settings.
About 19% of US households are rural, Rathmell said, and rural areas face a survival disadvantage—180 deaths per 100,000 population versus 157 per 100,000 in urban areas. A key driver is the centralization of clinical research: more than 20% of trials take place at NCI-designated or academic centers while only about 4% occur in community-based programs, leaving many patients far from opportunities to participate.
Rathmell proposed the dyad model to bridge that divide. The model pairs academic specialists with community oncologists in unified teams that preserve the patient’s trusted local relationship while enabling access to specialized expertise. Critical elements include formal communication workflows, tracking mechanisms to prevent patients from falling through the cracks, and collaborative care plans that keep both community and academic clinicians engaged.
“Meeting the patients’ needs where they are and expanding clinical trial access so that we can make discoveries faster and make a difference for more lives,” Rathmell said, emphasizing the importance of connected care.
Technology underpins the proposed changes. Rathmell highlighted the NCI’s Virtual Clinical Trials Office, launched in 2024, which provides virtual staffing to smaller practices and has enabled about 51,000 patient screenings across 19 protocols. She also described telemedicine-enabled, nationwide trials for rare mutations—such as an FGFR-mutant pancreatic cancer study—where patients are identified through genomic sequencing, screened remotely, and provided oral therapy at home with local monitoring by their physician.
These approaches reduce travel and cost burdens, expand the geographic footprint of research, and enable studies of rare cancers across more diverse populations. Rathmell pointed to rising early-onset gastrointestinal cancers among people aged 20 to 50 and the special needs of that group—fertility, psychological support and workplace issues—as reasons to fast-track coordinated care. Ohio State’s Bridge Program uses the dyad model to deliver specialized care and survivorship support for younger patients.
Rathmell said implementation will require policy reform as well as new clinical workflows. She called for multistate or national medical licensure for telehealth to enable cross‑state trial enrollment, standardized approaches to manage complications at distant sites, and new financial support strategies to sustain tech-enabled, high-touch models of care.
Adopting dyad partnerships and virtual trial technologies, Rathmell argued, can make clinical research part of the standard of care and ensure patients—rural or urban—have fair access to the latest treatments and trials.
Rathmell WK, Fen M. Meeting patients with cancer where they are—the role of dyad partnerships in oncology. Presented at: American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium; January 8-10, 2026; San Francisco, CA.
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