Cedars-Sinai is rolling out a new kind of safety net this summer for people living with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, the genetic red flags that can send cancer risk through the roof. Powered by a $30 million gift from the Cayton Goldrich Family Foundation, the Cedars-Sinai Cayton BRCA Center is built around a simple but ambitious promise: turn weeks or even months of scattered appointments into one tightly orchestrated day.
One spot for screenings, counseling, and fertility care
The Cayton BRCA Center will bring genetic testing, tailored cancer screenings, risk-reducing procedures, and reproductive endocrinology services together on a single campus, according to Cedars-Sinai. Hospital leaders say the new hub is designed to offer wraparound care from prevention through treatment, with built-in clinical follow-up, research access, and entry to clinical trials.
The facility itself was made possible by a $30 million gift from the Cayton Goldrich Family Foundation, as reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal. The idea is that patients dealing with inherited cancer risk will spend less time chasing appointments and more time actually getting care.
How a single-day visit works
Instead of bouncing between imaging centers, gynecologists, oncologists, and fertility clinics over several weeks, patients will be able to knock out most of their workup in one visit, as reported by Palisades News. Surgical oncologist Dr. Farin Amersi told the outlet that the model can shrink what is normally eight to twelve separate appointments into a single day.
“Our patients will have all their screenings and receive their test results in one visit,” Amersi said. The streamlined schedule is meant to cut both the emotional stress and the logistical chaos that come with frequent, high-stakes surveillance.
BRCA1 vs. BRCA2: different risks, different timing
Physicians at the center say BRCA1 and BRCA2 are not interchangeable, and that the differences matter when it comes to preventive surgery and screening timelines, as Palisades News explains. Gynecologic oncologist Dr. Marla Scott noted that people with BRCA1 mutations face roughly a 40 percent higher risk for gynecologic cancers and tend to develop those cancers at a younger age.
That distinction shapes conversations about when or whether to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes, consider a hysterectomy, or opt for a mastectomy. The center’s team says the goal is to personalize those decisions instead of applying a one-size-fits-all playbook.
Why Los Angeles needs a dedicated BRCA hub
Roughly one in 400 people in the United States carries a BRCA mutation, and certain communities shoulder an even higher burden. Experts say Los Angeles has lacked a centralized place that pulls together all the moving parts of hereditary cancer care, according to Cedars-Sinai.
Beyond clinic visits, Cedars-Sinai leaders say the program will back outreach efforts, research, and, in the near future, free genetic testing for high-risk communities. The aim is to reach people who might otherwise struggle to piece together a multidisciplinary team or even realize they qualify for high-risk screening in the first place.
Philanthropy behind the center
The Cayton Goldrich Family Foundation’s $30 million gift seeded the new center and continues a multiyear relationship with Cedars-Sinai that has included prior donations, Los Angeles Business Journal reports. Foundation trustees have linked the donation to personal family experiences with BRCA mutations and say they wanted to support both day-to-day care and long-term prevention.
Hospital officials say the investment will underwrite clinical programs, research, and community outreach, all aimed at cutting inherited cancer risk and catching problems earlier.
For patients and clinicians on the Westside and across Los Angeles, the immediate draw is a one-stop BRCA clinic that can condense sprawling to-do lists into a single visit. Anyone with a strong family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer is urged to talk with a primary care doctor or OB-GYN about genetic screening. Cedars-Sinai says it will start seeing patients at the Cayton BRCA Center in early July and will begin scheduling through its usual provider referrals and central scheduling line.
Advocates hope that by making this kind of high-risk care easier to access, more patients will be flagged earlier and steered toward prevention strategies and clinical trials that might otherwise stay out of reach.
