Using Social Media to Uncover Treatment Experiences and Decisions in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome Who Are Ineligible for Intensive Chemotherapy: Patient-Centric Qualitative Data Analysis (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Until recently, treatment options were limited for patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (AML and MDS) who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. Owing to the condition’s rapid progression, it is difficult to identify what is most important to patients when making treatment decisions. Patients’ needs can be better addressed by gaining a deeper understanding of their perspectives, which is valuable in the decision-making process. The Food and Drug Administration recently encouraged the use of social media as a tool to gain insight on patients’ perspectives regarding symptoms experienced and the impacts of their disease. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to use disease-specific social media posts by patients with AML or MDS who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy and their caregivers to capture factors they feel are most important, and to provide current evidence to inform and characterize these perspectives. METHODS Posts by patients with AML or MDS and their caregivers were extracted from publicly available discussions on 3 large AML- or MDS–specific sites. These posts were manually reviewed to only include patients who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. A total of 1443 posts from 220 AML patients/caregivers and 2733 posts from 127 MDS patients/caregivers met the study inclusion criteria. A qualitative data analysis (QDA) of a sample of 85 patients’/caregivers’ posts was conducted to identify themes, and a targeted QDA of posts from 79 users focused on treatment decision discussions. Posts were manually reviewed, and relevant text segments were coded and grouped into categories and overall themes. RESULTS Eighty-six percent (73/85) of users in the overall QDA had relevant information about the key objectives. The most commonly discussed treatment experience theme was the humanistic burden of AML or MDS in terms of emotional/physical impact and impact on family (86%, 63/73 of users), followed by treatment decisions (56%, 41/73) and unmet needs (50%, 37/73). In the QDA of treatment decisions, 60 posts from 45 users contained relevant information. Patients commonly reported the desire to reach specific milestones, including birthdays and weddings. They wished for a better quality of life over quantity of life, did not want the risk of suffering from side effects, and expressed a clear preference to be at home rather than in a hospital or care home. CONCLUSIONS This study was a novel application of disease-specific social media. It highlighted experiences in the current treatment of AML and MDS, including information gaps, patient/caregiver uncertainty, and the importance of understanding patients’/caregivers’ goals and opinions. A clear finding from this research was the importance of reaching certain personal life goals and being at home with family and friends. The analysis showed that patients/caregivers face additional challenges, including humanistic impacts and a lack of information regarding treatment options.

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Using Social Media to Uncover Treatment Experiences and Decisions in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome Who Are Ineligible for Intensive Chemotherapy: Patient-Centric Qualitative Data Analysis

Journal of Medical Internet Research ◽

10.2196/14285 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. e14285 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alison Booth ◽

Timothy Bell ◽

Sonia Halhol ◽

Shiyu Pan ◽

Verna Welch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Treatment Options ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Treatment Decisions ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Disease Specific ◽

Acute Myeloid

Background Until recently, treatment options were limited for patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (AML and MDS) who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. Owing to the condition’s rapid progression, it is difficult to identify what is most important to patients when making treatment decisions. Patients’ needs can be better addressed by gaining a deeper understanding of their perspectives, which is valuable in the decision-making process. The Food and Drug Administration recently encouraged the use of social media as a tool to gain insight on patients’ perspectives regarding symptoms experienced and the impacts of their disease. Objective This study aimed to use disease-specific social media posts by patients with AML or MDS who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy and their caregivers to capture factors they feel are most important, and to provide current evidence to inform and characterize these perspectives. Methods Posts by patients with AML or MDS and their caregivers were extracted from publicly available discussions on 3 large AML- or MDS–specific sites. These posts were manually reviewed to only include patients who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. A total of 1443 posts from 220 AML patients/caregivers and 2733 posts from 127 MDS patients/caregivers met the study inclusion criteria. A qualitative data analysis (QDA) of a sample of 85 patients’/caregivers’ posts was conducted to identify themes, and a targeted QDA of posts from 79 users focused on treatment decision discussions. Posts were manually reviewed, and relevant text segments were coded and grouped into categories and overall themes. Results Eighty-six percent (73/85) of users in the overall QDA had relevant information about the key objectives. The most commonly discussed treatment experience theme was the humanistic burden of AML or MDS in terms of emotional/physical impact and impact on family (86%, 63/73 of users), followed by treatment decisions (56%, 41/73) and unmet needs (50%, 37/73). In the QDA of treatment decisions, 60 posts from 45 users contained relevant information. Patients commonly reported the desire to reach specific milestones, including birthdays and weddings. They wished for a better quality of life over quantity of life, did not want the risk of suffering from side effects, and expressed a clear preference to be at home rather than in a hospital or care home. Conclusions This study was a novel application of disease-specific social media. It highlighted experiences in the current treatment of AML and MDS, including information gaps, patient/caregiver uncertainty, and the importance of understanding patients’/caregivers’ goals and opinions. A clear finding from this research was the importance of reaching certain personal life goals and being at home with family and friends. The analysis showed that patients/caregivers face additional challenges, including humanistic impacts and a lack of information regarding treatment options.

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Advances in non-intensive chemotherapy treatment options for adults diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia

Leukemia Research ◽

10.1016/j.leukres.2020.106339 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 91 ◽

pp. 106339 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Griffiths ◽

Hetty E. Carraway ◽

Namrata S. Chandhok ◽

Thomas Prebet

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Treatment Options ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Chemotherapy Treatment ◽

Acute Myeloid

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Decitabine Versus Intensive Chemotherapy for Elderly Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2018-99-116102 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽

pp. 2713-2713 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Eun-Ji Choi ◽

Je-Hwan Lee ◽

Han-Seung Park ◽

Jung-Hee Lee ◽

Miee Seol ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Elderly Patients ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Treatment Options ◽

Induction Treatment ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Newly Diagnosed ◽

Monosomy 7 ◽

Elderly Aml ◽

Acute Myeloid

Abstract Background Elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has generally poor prognosis prognosis in accordance with their unfavorable clinical and biologic features. Hypomethylating agents have shown potential in the treatment of AML as well as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In this retrospective study, we compared the outcomes of elderly AML patients according to induction treatment options: decitabine versus intensive chemotherapy. We also tried to identify specific subsets of patients who are most likely to benefit from decitabine or intensive chemotherapy. Methods This study included elderly patients aged 65 years or older who received induction treatment with decitabine or intensive chemotherapy for newly diagnosed AML at a single institute. The endpoints for this study were overall survival (OS), response, and event-free survival (EFS). Response included complete remission (CR), CR with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi), and CR with partial hematologic recovery (CRh). Results A total of 107 patients, decitabine for 75 and intensive chemotherapy for 32, were analyzed. Decitabine was given as 20 mg/m2/day for 5 days every 4 weeks. Median 5 courses (range, 1-43) were delivered to the patients and 16 patients were still on decitabine treatment at the time of analysis. Intensive chemotherapy regimens included cytarabine plus daunoruribin (n=21) or idarubicin (n=10), and hyper-CVAD (n=1): 25 patients received one course and 7 received two courses for induction treatment. The rate for CR + CRi + CRh (CRR) was 38.6% (39 of 101 assessable patients). With a median follow-up duration of 14.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 12.0-22.8) among surviving patients, 79 patients died and 22 relapsed. The median OS and EFS were 12.3 months (95% CI, 10.0-14.7) and 4.1 months (95% CI, 2.5-5.7), respectively. Decitabine showed lower CRR (26.1% vs. 65.6, P<0.001) with similar EFS (median 3.4 vs. 6.1 months, P=.338) and OS (median 11.0 vs. 14.8 months, P=.124) compared to intensive chemotherapy (Figure 1). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that induction treatment option, peripheral blood (PB) blast percentage, and leukemia type (secondary vs. de novo) were independent risk factors for CRR. A presence of FLT3-ITD mutation, complex karyotype, and higher PB blast percentage were independently associated with shorter OS. Subgroup analysis for OS showed that intensive chemotherapy was superior to decitabine in patients with FLT3-ITD mutation (median 9.5 vs. 2.6 months, P=.025) and poor cytogenetic risk (10.8 vs. 6.1 months, P=.027), but decitabine showed tendency towards a longer OS compared to intensive chemotherapy in those with monosomy 7 or del(7q) (11.7 vs. 3.3 months, P=.093; Figure 2). Conclusion Decitabine showed similar OS to intensive chemotherapy despite of lower response rate in elderly AML patients. Clinical outcomes of specific subgroups seemed to be different according to induction treatment options. Further studies are warranted for selection of optimal treatment options for elderly AML patients. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Myelodysplasia-Related Changes (AML-MRC)

American Journal of Clinical Pathology ◽

10.1093/ajcp/aqaa107 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 154 (6) ◽

pp. 731-741

Author(s):

Daniel A Arber ◽

Harry P Erba

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

High Risk ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Mutational Analysis ◽

Treatment Options ◽

Clinical History ◽

Treatment Decisions ◽

Clear Understanding ◽

Prognostic Features ◽

Acute Myeloid

Abstract Objectives Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) represents a high-risk and somewhat diverse subtype of AML, and substantial confusion exists about the pathologic evaluation needed for diagnosis, which can include the patient’s clinical history, cytogenetic analysis, mutational analysis, and/or morphologic evaluation. Treatment decisions based on incomplete or untimely pathology reports may result in the suboptimal treatment of patients with AML-MRC. Methods Using a PubMed search, diagnosis of and treatment options for AML-MRC were investigated. Results This article reviews the current diagnostic criteria for AML-MRC, provides guidance on assessments necessary for an AML-MRC diagnosis, summarizes clinical and prognostic features of AML-MRC, and discusses potential therapies for patients with AML-MRC. In addition to conventional chemotherapy, treatment options include CPX-351, a liposomal encapsulation of daunorubicin/cytarabine approved for treatment of adults with AML-MRC; targeted agents for patients with certain mutations/disease characteristics; and lower-intensity therapies for less fit patients. Conclusions Given the evolving and complex treatment landscape and the high-risk nature of the AML-MRC population, a clear understanding of the pathology information necessary for AML-MRC diagnosis has become increasingly important to help guide treatment decisions and thereby improve patient outcomes.

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