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ACCC created a survey to better understand multidisciplinary cancer providers’ experiences with bispecific antibodies, with a focus on experiences with blinatumomab. Results of the survey were presented in an abstract during the 2021 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition.
Bispecific antibodies have been big news in the world of hematology for some time, ever since the 2014 approval of the first such therapy, blinatumomab, which targets both CD19 on the surface of B-cell lymphoblasts and CD3 on the surface of T cells.1 The 2-for-1 punch of these novel immunotherapies can overcome limitations of conventional monoclonal antibodies.
In 2020, the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) created an ongoing education program to identify and address barriers to adoption of bispecific antibodies for the treatment of hematological malignancies. For this program, ACCC created a survey to better understand multidisciplinary cancer providers’ experiences with these therapies, with a focus on experiences with blinatumomab. Results of the survey were presented in an abstract during the 2021 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition.2
According to the abstract, the survey received 129 individual responses, with 66% of those reporting that they prescribed, dispensed, and administered blinatumomab and/or cared for patients being treated with it. Of these, 44% were medical oncologists/hematologists, 8% were advanced practice providers (APPs), 17% were nurses, 23% were pharmacists, and 9% fell into an “other” category of various other disciplines.
Provider experiences with blinatumomab varied; 92% of oncologists had experience with blinatumomab while only 35% of nurses reported this. Regarding community use, respondents said 59% of their institutions use it to treat relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 41% use it to treat ALL with minimal residual disease positivity. Of note, 74% of oncologists said they use blinatumomab before chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy when deciding between the 2 options for patients with ALL.
The survey also found:
References
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