Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are an emerging and fast-developing area of immunotherapy, particularly in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. However, access to this therapy remains limited, particularly for Veterans. Administrative hurdles and challenging adverse events have slowed adoption of BsAbs in the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Nicholas Burwick, MD, hematologist in the Puget Sound VA Health Care System, about how his VA site tackled these challenges and made BsAbs available to its patient population through a collaborative hub-and-spoke model.
“We set expectations, we came up with a plan, and we didn’t have too many bispecific antibody patients at the same time. At least initially, we wanted some control.” — Nicholas Burwick, MD
“The collaboration among different VA centers has been something that I’ve come to appreciate. We have a heme malignancy group, for example, so we can compare notes, work together, and in some cases even collaborate on VA initiative proposals or industry-sponsored clinical trials.” — Nicholas Burwick, MD
Guest:
Nicholas Burwick, MD
President, Association of VA Hematology/Oncology
Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant
Puget Sound VA Health Care System
Resources:
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s)/faculty member(s) and do not reflect the official policy or position of their employer(s) or the Association of Cancer Care Centers.
