Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) regarding quality of life are becoming increasingly important in the post-transplant maintenance setting for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), explained Dr. Betty Hamilton, an associate professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.
“It’s always essential for patients to be able to tell their provider what’s bothering them,” Hamilton said in a recent interview at the Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT and CIBMTR.
Hamilton discussed findings from the phase 3 Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network study 1506, which evaluated relapse-free survival (time patients live without experiencing disease relapse) and health-related quality of life in patients with FLT3-ITD-positive AML who underwent an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant. Two groups were compared in the trial: those who received a post-transplant placebo, and those who received maintenance Xospata (gilteritinib).
READ MORE: Pre- or Post-Transplant Xospata Shows Relapse-Free Survival Benefit in AML Group
Findings showed that those who received Xospata — which was approved for AML treatment in November 2018 — tended to have better relapse-free survival and no statistically significant difference in health-related quality of life.
Hamilton emphasized, however, the importance of patients reporting any side effects or quality-of-life issues that they encounter. In the study, Hamilton and her colleagues used three different surveys — the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplant (FACT-BMT), FACT-Leukemia and EQ-5D-5L — to assess physical, social, emotional and functional domains regarding health-related quality of life. These measures, according to Hamilton, can ensure that patients and clinicians communicate openly about side effects.
Transcript
It’s always essential for patients to be able to tell their provider what’s bothering them. I think what’s so important about patient-reported outcomes is that it comes directly from the patient. It’s not interpreted by the physician, even when patients do tell sometimes tell their provider, sometimes [they] sort of interpreted differently.
So I think that using PROs and assessing quality of life is critical. Also, these assessments help patients remember to bring up concerns as well.
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