In the community setting, accurate patient identification for CAR T-cell therapy is critical for appropriate and timely treatment. Often, patients with advanced hematologic cancers are considered for, or become aware of, CAR T-cell therapy after the optimal treatment window has closed.1 Additionally, there are significant financial, logistical, and educational barriers that patients and their caregivers may face in accessing this potentially life-saving immunotherapy.2 However, less is known about how patients are educated on CAR T-cell therapy and how well they are able to maintain relationships with their referring providers. Additionally, there remains an opportunity to improve community oncology education surrounding timely patient identification and ways to harmonize collaboration between referring community programs and accredited treatment centers.
ACCC—with its program partners Cancer Support Community, the Association of American Cancer Institutes and the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology, and with support by Kite Pharma—aims to better understand patient and caregiver education and experience with CAR T-cell therapy and identify ways in which cancer programs can improve timely identification and referral as well as improve communication and care coordination between referring and treating providers. ACCC will also share tips and highlight resources that can be utilized to educate patients and their caregivers on the option of CAR T-cell therapy early in the treatment journey, to enable more patients to potentially qualify for therapy.
For more information on this program, please contact the ACCC Provider Education department.
In 2023, ACCC conducted virtual focus groups to better understand patient and caregiver education and experience with CAR T-cell therapy and identify ways in which cancer programs can improve timely identification and referral as well as understand current practices for communication and care coordination between referring and treating providers.
Explore how peer-to-peer education and regional networking opportunities between academic medical centers, community programs, and providers can promote effective care continuity and gain insights on how to engage patients and caregivers in a candid and thorough discussion about the distinct adverse events (AEs) associated with CAR T-cell therapy.
This Community Oncologist Patient ID Roundtable brought together 3 professional societies: the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the Association of Community Cancer Centers, and the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy with the aim of developing a standardized framework to enable community oncologists to easily assess patients for CAR T-cell therapy, with a focus on large B cell lymphoma.