JADPRO Session Focuses on Navigating New Treatment Options for Multiple Myeloma

The treatment landscape for multiple myeloma is rapidly changing, making it critical for providers to stay up to date on the latest developments and know how to use new therapies in a real-world setting.

Rachid Baz, MD, and Elizabeth Finley-Oliver, MSN, ARNP, AGNP-BC, of the Moffitt Cancer Center, delivered a presentation titled “Individualizing Care for Multiple Myeloma: Navigating Treatment Options and Addressing Patient Needs” at JADPRO Live 2023, the Annual APSHO Meeting.

Dr. Baz and Ms. Finley-Oliver told Cancer Nursing Today that providers should know several key things amid the boom in novel therapies for multiple myeloma. Health care providers must be aware of new therapies and understand how to manage the associated side effects of the treatments. Proper side effect management can make the difference between a patient staying on therapy or not, Dr. Baz and Ms. Finley-Oliver emphasized.

“Supportive care is important, and also looking at the patient in front of you and trying to decide what’s best for them,” Ms. Finley-Oliver said, noting that supportive care strategies will depend on the treatment a patient is receiving.

Dr. Baz spoke about what he sees as a challenge surrounding real-world access to novel therapies for multiple myeloma and why it’s essential to figure out the “interplay between the community and the academic centers.” “A lot of those patients are in the community and a lot of those newer therapies are not quite yet in the community,” he said.

It’s critical for all parties involved in the treatment to be well-informed about the treatment strategy, supportive care options, and potential adverse effects.

“It doesn’t matter how good the treatment… if you’re not able to support the patients on treatment, then it’s really not going to be a successful strategy,” Dr. Baz said. “That’s where it takes a team of having nurses who are knowledgeable, [advanced practice providers] who are knowledgeable, patients who understand what to look for, and their caregiver who knows what to look for, too.”

Hear what Ms. Finley-Oliver and Dr. Baz hope to see happen with multiple myeloma treatment in the future.