Beyond Platelet Counts: Evaluating Clinical Challenges and Treatment Approaches for Patients Living with ITP

A panelist discusses how immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is characterized by isolated low platelet counts due to autoimmune destruction, with classification based on duration (acute, extended, or chronic) and severity of thrombocytopenia.

A panelist discusses how ITP diagnosis remains one of exclusion requiring thorough testing to rule out other causes of thrombocytopenia, followed by patient education about autoimmune diseases and bleeding symptoms like nosebleeds, bruising, and petechiae.

A panelist discusses how bleeding risk assessment depends on platelet count levels (highest risk below 20,000), requiring careful medication history review to avoid drugs that impair platelet function like aspirin and NSAIDs.

A panelist discusses how ITP creates a chronic inflammatory state causing underrecognized symptoms like fatigue and joint pain that significantly impact patients' quality of life and ability to function, while recommending avoidance of activities that could cause head or internal injuries.

A panelist discusses how personalized ITP care requires open conversations about testing costs, insurance coverage, and treatment accessibility, with clinicians helping patients navigate financial barriers through pharmaceutical assistance programs and clinical trials.

A panelist discusses how personalized ITP care requires open conversations about testing costs, insurance coverage, and treatment accessibility, with clinicians helping patients navigate financial barriers through pharmaceutical assistance programs and clinical trials.

An expert discusses the clinical presentation and diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), emphasizing that isolated thrombocytopenia with mucosal bleeding and petechiae is highly suggestive of ITP, while underscoring the importance of ruling out other causes—especially drug-induced thrombocytopenia—through careful evaluation.

An expert discusses treatment strategies for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), emphasizing individualized decisions based on platelet count, bleeding symptoms, and comorbidities, with options ranging from observation to urgent therapies like steroids or IVIG, and longer-term approaches tailored to patient health, treatment goals, and lifestyle considerations.

An expert discusses treatment strategies for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), emphasizing individualized decisions based on platelet count, bleeding symptoms, and comorbidities, with options ranging from observation to urgent therapies like steroids or IVIG, and longer-term approaches tailored to patient health, treatment goals, and lifestyle considerations.

An expert discusses the importance of patient education and personalized, flexible treatment planning in managing chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), highlighting proactive strategies like emergency steroids, shared decision-making, and interdisciplinary care to align therapy choices with each patient’s lifestyle, preferences, and comorbidities.

An expert discusses the importance of balancing efficacy with safety in ITP treatment, emphasizing cautious use of steroids, close monitoring of therapy-related side effects, and maintaining platelet counts just above bleeding thresholds to minimize long-term drug toxicity through personalized, informed care.

An expert discusses how ITP treatment success is monitored through maintaining safe platelet levels and symptom control, managing relapses, and tailoring follow-up based on therapy type and patient needs.

An expert discusses the expanded treatment options for refractory ITP, emphasizing accurate diagnosis, combination therapies targeting platelet production and destruction, and the evolving role of splenectomy with improved safety measures.

An expert discusses the rapidly evolving landscape of ITP treatments, highlighting emerging therapies such as Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors, neonatal Fc receptor antagonists, anti-CD38 antibodies, and innovative approaches like CAR T-cell therapy that offer new hope for improved patient outcomes.

An expert discusses how rilzabrutinib, a recently FDA-approved Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, targets the autoimmune pathophysiology of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) by modulating B cells, macrophages, and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines.

An expert discusses how current immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) treatments such as corticosteroids, rituximab, and fostamatinib have significant tolerability issues and fail to provide sustained platelet responses or address quality-of-life concerns.

An expert discusses how the phase 3 LUNA 3 trial demonstrated that rilzabrutinib achieved durable platelet responses in 23% of patients while also being the first prospective trial to show significant improvements across all quality-of-life metrics.

An expert discusses how rilzabrutinib’s covalent reversible binding mechanism provides a favorable safety profile with only manageable grade 1 to 2 toxicities and no cardiovascular or bleeding complications, unlike earlier irreversible Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors.