Buck, C, Brenes Castillo, F, Bettio, E, Land, J, McCourt, O, Poole, H, Tarling, R, Yong, K, Popat, R, Lee, L, McMillan, A, Papanikolaou, X, Xu, K, Kyriakou, C, Rabin, N, Wechalekar, A, Fisher, A and Sive, J (2024) The impact of continuous lenalidomide maintenance treatment on people living with multiple myeloma—a single-centre, qualitative service evaluation study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 32 (7). ISSN 0941-4355

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Abstract

Purpose: Continuous lenalidomide maintenance treatment after autologous stem cell transplantation delivers improvement in progression free and overall survival among newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients and has been the standard of care in the UK since March 2021. However, there is scant information about its impact on patients’ day-to-day lives. This service evaluation aimed to qualitatively assess patients receiving lenalidomide treatment at a cancer centre in London, in order that the service might better align with needs and expectations of patients. Methods: We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews among myeloma patients who were on continuous lenalidomide maintenance treatment at a specialist cancer centre in London. Members of the clinical team identified potentially eligible participants to take part, and convenience sampling was used to select 10 male and 10 female patients, median age of 58 (range, 45–71). The median treatment duration was 11 months (range, 1–60 months). Participants were qualitatively interviewed following the same semi-structured interview guide, which was designed to explore patient experience and insights of lenalidomide. Reflexive thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Results: Four overarching themes were as follows: (i) lenalidomide: understanding its role and rationale; (ii) reframing the loss of a treatment-free period to a return to normal life; (iii) the reality of being on lenalidomide: balancing hopes with hurdles; (iv) gratitude and grievances: exploring mixed perceptions of care and communication. Results will be used to enhance clinical services by tailoring communication to better meet patients’ preferences when making treatment decisions. Conclusion: This study highlights that most patients feel gratitude for being offered continuous lenalidomide and perceive it as alleviating some fears concerning relapse. It reveals variations in side effects in different age groups; younger patients reported no/negligible side effects, whilst several older patients with comorbidities described significant symptom burden, occasionally leading to treatment discontinuation which caused distress at the perceived loss of prolonged remission. Future research should prioritise understanding the unique needs of younger patients living with multiple myeloma.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans; Multiple Myeloma; Antineoplastic Agents; Transplantation, Autologous; Qualitative Research; Quality of Life; Aged; Middle Aged; London; Female; Male; Interviews as Topic; Maintenance Chemotherapy; Lenalidomide; Lenalidomide; Maintenance; Multiple Myeloma; Qualitative; Humans; Multiple Myeloma; Lenalidomide; Male; Female; Middle Aged; Aged; Qualitative Research; London; Maintenance Chemotherapy; Interviews as Topic; Quality of Life; Transplantation, Autologous; Antineoplastic Agents; 11 Medical and Health Sciences; 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences; Oncology & Carcinogenesis
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer)
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	Springer
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2024 13:37
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2024 13:45
DOI or ID number:	10.1007/s00520-024-08663-4
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/23750

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