04 Dec How Do Patients With Multiple Myeloma Weight Treatment Options?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. McKay
Caroline McKay, PhD
Real World Value & Evidence, Oncology
Janssen Scientific Affairs
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Considering patient preferences in treatment decision-making in oncology is growing in importance. While recent introduction of new treatments for multiple myeloma have improved survival and the possibility of sustaining longer remission periods, regimen options still vary with respect to efficacy, safety, and dosing.
Therefore, patients and providers must consider tradeoffs inherent in making treatment decisions that are growing in complexity. Despite this, there is a lack of research describing patient preferences within the context of currently available treatment regimens. To address this gap, this study examined how multiple myeloma patients evaluate, or weigh, treatment options. Key findings from the research are that treatment preferences do not appear to be static, but instead suggest that the relative importance of treatment attributes may change over time and treatment history.
Further, patients place higher importance on overall survival and progression-free survival than other treatment attributes, and may be willing to accept an increase in the risk of serious side effects and reduced convenience in exchange for greater efficacy; however, when efficacy is comparable, patients appear to place greater weight on dosing frequency than on the duration of treatment administration, i.e., more frequent dosing appears to be less preferable to patients than longer administration/infusion time.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: These findings should be considered by physicians to help facilitate communication between the physician and the patient, including in shared decision making. Results indicated that patient preferences for multiple myeloma treatments may vary over time based on treatment history, so it’s important that physicians engage their patients to share their preferences and involve them in the decision making process at multiple points – and not rely on assumptions, but a growing evidence-base to inform the discussion. This study provides insight into how multiple myeloma patients value and assess meaningful “benefit-risk” when making treatment decisions, which can be useful for facilitating physician-patient communications and shared decision making.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: It would be great to see further research into patient preferences for multiple myeloma treatment, as this study represents only a start to integrating patient-centered care and evidenced-based medicine approaches to build patient-centered evidence in oncology, which may be essential to fully realize benefits of new and upcoming treatments.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: I hope this study helps foster a stronger relationship between providers and their patients. These findings provide physicians with insights into patient preferences. It is essential to continue to support conversations between clinicians and patients about benefit-risk of multiple myeloma treatment regimen options so that the decision of the right medication at the right time considers what is important to the patient at that time.
Disclosures: C.M. is employed by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (JSA) and E.M.M. is employed by and has stock in JSA; JC was employed by JSA at the time of study conduct; M.J. C-M, M.M. and N.A. are employed by Kantar Health and provided research consulting services to JSA; and N.R. provided research consulting services to JSA.
Citation: ASH 2018 abstract
Patient Preferences for Multiple Myeloma (MM) Treatment: Interim Analysis of a Discrete Choice Experiment
Caroline McKay, PhD1*, Eric M Maiese, PhD1*, Joseph Chiarappa, PhDc1*, M. Janelle Cambron-Mellott, PhD2*, Martine Maculaitis, PhD2*, Nicole Alunni, MS2* and Noopur Raje, MD3
1Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, Horsham, PA
2Kantar Health, New York, NY
3Center for Multiple Myeloma, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA
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Last Updated on December 4, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD