Interviews

Thomas Frisell, PhD, coordinator of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, discusses whether patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease.

So far, minimal residual disease (MRD) has not been used much outside of clinical trials, but researchers are testing how it might be used to guide decisions in clinical practice, said Lindsey Roeker, MD, clinical fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Symptoms are not random chance—they have a real link to biological drivers of the disease and understanding them is important, said Ruben Mesa, MD, director of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The significant findings of the DAPA-HF data have been well received in both the scientific and payer communities, but we also need to ensure that patients with diabetes are educated on the signs, symptoms, and risk factors linked with heart failure, said Kiersten Combs, BS, US vice president of Cardiovascular Metabolism at AstraZeneca.

The next era in treating mantle cell lymphoma will use precision medicine to target therapies in a personalized way, said Michael Wang, MD, professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at MD Anderson.

The terminology for smoldering myeloma has been around for decades, but more discussion over what it means and who it really applies to is needed, said C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer.

Lena Winestone, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, explains how her research into disparities in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may help identify the cause of those disparities and how best to intervene in order to improve outcomes for these patients.

Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPh, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, discusses the fact that, in addition to other modifiable factors linked with progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), dietary factors are also emerging as potentially related to outcomes.

The introduction of novel agents has really revolutionized the care of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia to the point where chemotherapy is rarely used, said Lindsey Roeker, MD, clinical fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Progress toward value-based payment models is moving slowly, so employers and healthcare systems need to recognize the value of taking on risk and encourage surrounding entities in their communities to do the same, said Bruce Sherman, MD, chief medical officer of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.

One of the challenges with treating children with acute myeloid leukemia is that many of the novel drugs are not available in children. Current treatment with chemotherapy really requires balancing increasing doses with the short-term and long-term toxicities, said Sarah Tasian, MD, attending physician in the Division of Oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

To avoid the toxicities associated with use of chemotherapy, there has been progress in developing and utilizing chemotherapy-free therapies to treat mantle cell lymphoma, said Michael Wang, MD, professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at MD Anderson.

Although the pembrolizumab 8 arm of I-SPY2 did not have strong enough results to continue onto phase 3, it does provide some insights and highlights the need for precision medicine to tailor approaches to treatment, said Rita Nanda, MD, associate professor, medicine, The University of Chicago Medicine.

Melinda Magyari, MD, PhD, consultant neurologist, the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, explores what data registry have shown about factors that are linked with secondary progression in pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is a difficult disease to diagnose as it can present in many different ways and lacks an attributable biomarker to assess, said Andrew Solomon, MD, associate professor of neurological sciences and division chief of multiple sclerosis at Larner College of Medicine, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has meant better care for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a better understanding of rare subtypes of genetic AML, and a better prognosis for these patients, said Sarah Tasian, MD, attending physician in the Division of Oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPh, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, discusses the current state of knowledge on smoking and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk and the risk of MS progression.

Reimbursement for CAR-T therapy has progressed to where commercially insured patients obtain coverage regularly, but issues remain for patients with Medicare, said John Sweetenham, MD, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Associate Director for Clinical Affairs at UTSW’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Cost-effectiveness analyses have not been conducted on the DAPA-HF trial as of yet, but in healthcare systems in which dapagliflozin is not particularly expensive, results are likely to be favorable, said John McMurray, MD, FRCP, FESC, professor of medical cardiology in the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

Biosimilars have the potential to reduce costs of treatment for patients with MS, but until clinical trials show their efficacy, clinicians will feel uneasy about prescribing them for chronic illnesses, said Aliza Ben-Zacharia, DNP, ANP, associate director at the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at Mount Sinai.

Richard Snyder, MD, executive vice president of Facilitated Health Networks and chief medical officer at Independence Blue Cross, discusses key features that payers should include when implementing a value-based agreement.

Partnerships are essential for overcoming the barriers to implementing value-based care, explained Vanessa Sammy, MPA, MHSA, senior director of commercial strategy and implementation for Remedy Partners.

Melinda Magyari, MD, PhD, consultant neurologist, the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, addresses the current state of knowledge on using disease-modifying therapies to treat children with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Dapagliflozin was shown to not only benefit patients at risk of heart failure, both with and without diabetes, but treat patients with established heart failure as well, said John McMurray, MD, FRCP, FESC, professor of medical cardiology in the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

There are a number of policy changes that can drive change within the implementation of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, but further innovation is warranted to improve access, said John Sweetenham, MD, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Associate Director for Clinical Affairs at UTSW’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Stronger intervention by the government in controlling price, accessibility, and availability of MS treatment can drive innovation, said Aliza Ben-Zacharia, DNP, ANP, associate director at the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at Mount Sinai.

Bradley Prechtl, MBA, chief executive officer of Florida Cancer Specialists and the American Oncology Network discusses how Florida Cancer Specialists is working with employers.

The biggest advice I would give to practices and care teams trying to really engage patients more is be innovative, explained James Hamrick, MD, senior medical director at Flatiron Health.