Access to Treatment is Hurdle to be Conquered for Multiple Myeloma Patients
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved chimeric antigen receptor therapy (CAR T) for multiple myeloma, patients were given a new treatment option. Unfortunately, not every patient has been able to access the therapy, which uses the body’s own immune cells to destroy cancerous cells.
That’s something Lauren Peres, PhD, an epidemiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, addressed at the Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings in Honolulu.
“CAR T has revolutionized the treatment landscape in the relapsed and refractory setting of multiple myeloma,” she said. “But disparities exist. For example, Black individuals are twice as likely to develop myeloma than their white counterparts, and Black patients are not experiencing the same rise in survival rates as their white counterparts.”
That’s likely because the novel therapies recently developed for the treatment of multiple myeloma may not be reaching that patient population, Peres says. This is the guiding principle behind her session at Tandem: “Addressing Disparities: Enhancing Access to Cellular Immunotherapy for Multiple Myeloma Patients.”
“This session will allow for thought leaders in the field to discuss what we know about these disparities and how we may be able to address them,” Peres said. “Here at Moffitt, we are working on improving access and removing barriers that prevent patients from receiving therapy from not only a provider and research perspective but also from the patients themselves.”
Currently, CAR T is mostly available only at large medical centers or cancer centers, such as Moffitt. One concern Peres has is whether multiple myeloma patients treated in the community know about CAR T or are being offered this treatment as an option in their care. She hopes that patients take it upon themselves to become their own advocate and that they have the support of a caregiver who can do the same for them.
Ideally, finding a way to offer CAR T in community settings could potentially decrease disparities and make the treatment easier for all communities to access. That would ease the burden of travel, for instance, which can be a major barrier for those living in more rural settings.
“Disparities cover a wide range of categories,” Peres said. “Where someone lives or their socioeconomic status could be barriers for CAR T as they may be unable to take the time off of work or afford the trip to a large urban area for treatment and frequent follow-up appointments, which is what is required with CAR T.”
The first step to conquering these challenges, Peres said, is to identify them and then figure out potential ways to address the gaps that exist in care. Gathering that evidence-based information will be an important step toward the development of potential interventions or changes that could be made to ensure advanced therapies are available for all patient populations.
“This session will offer a chance to open up that discussion and to tackle questions directly brought up by those attending,” Peres said. “It’s a critical step on a journey to improve cancer care and to identify what we do know and what challenges are still out there.”
