Patient-Reported Outcomes in Myelodysplastic Syndromes: the Move from Life Span to Health Span

Patient-centric care in myelodysplastic syndromes: A global systematic literature review and gap analysis

BACKGROUND

Disease progression and poor prognosis in higher-risk (HR) myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) create an urgent need for interventions to improve the patient care experience in this vulnerable population. Patient-centric physician-supported strategies in conjunction with emerging therapies can help advance overall care and improve outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate patient-centric care (PCC) in the treatment of HR-MDS and identify opportunities to develop strategies to address care gaps for an optimal patient care experience.

METHODS

A global systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted by cross-referencing MDS/HR-MDS with PCC terms, using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Collaboration databases (2017-2022) in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

RESULTS

In all, 59 MDS articles (45 empirical, 14 reviews) met the study inclusion criteria. Of these, 6 empirical articles focused on the HR-MDS population while none of the reviews did. Identified themes fell into 2 categories: health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and disparities. HRQoL was further categorized based on findings in the literature to include groupings of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), fatigue/frailty, and patient/preferences/treatment decisions/shared decision making (SDM).

CONCLUSIONS

With new treatments potentially on the horizon for HR-MDS, a call to action is timely to address the overall lack of empirical PCC data. The patient-centric approach presents critical opportunities for integration of physician-supported strategies with more effective first-line therapies to help optimize the journey of patients with HR-MDS and ensure meaningful outcomes by reducing patient/caregiver burden, aligning with and respecting patient preferences, and including patients as active participants in their treatment.

The Haemato-Oncology Frailty (HOF) score to assess frailty in lymphoma

Morbidity and mortality during chemotherapy in older adults with haematological malignancy can be unpredictable. The Haemato-Oncology Frailty (HOF) score was previously found to predict outcomes in a cohort of patients with plasma cell myeloma. In this study, we assess its utility in assessing frailty in patients with lymphoma, and compare its performance to that of two other frailty scores. The HOF score was able to predict progression-free survival in this population, and was also shown to have potential in assessing the dynamism of frailty during chemotherapy. It performed well when compared to the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score and the Haematopoietic Cell Transplantation-Specific Comorbidity Index (HCTCI), although the study was not powered to assess for non-inferiority. The HOF score is a new score with the potential for application in different haematological malignancies.

Targeting health-related quality of life in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes - Current knowledge and lessons to be learned

Using a range of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments, most - but not all - studies of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) have reported that lower hemoglobin levels and red blood cell transfusion dependency are associated with worse HRQoL. In addition, some MDS treatments may significantly improve HRQoL, particularly among those patients who respond to therapy; however, the majority of these studies were underpowered for this secondary endpoint. Furthermore, decreased HRQoL has been associated with worse survival outcomes, and HRQoL scores can be used to refine classical prognostic systems. Despite the subjective nature of HRQoL, the importance and validity of measuring it in trials and clinical practice are increasingly being recognized, but properly validated MDS-specific instruments are required. We describe what is currently known about HRQoL in patients with MDS, and the limitations of measuring HRQoL, and we provide some recommendations to improve the measurement of this outcome in future trials.