Strategies to Addressing Disparities in Patients with AML

While there are many factors why patients with acute myeloid leukemia are ineligible for allogeneic stem cell transplant, such as age, financial hurdles, or other comorbidities, these factors are often compounded by social determinants of health, which can act as a significant barrier to consolidation therapy and long-term remission for these patients. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Keri Maher, DO, Director of the Acute Leukemia Program, and assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center about strategies to address these disparities and optimize care and treatment options for patients with acute myeloid leukemia who do not receive a transplant.

“We know that patients who are ineligible for transplant may be so because of social determinants in and of themselves…[It is important to understand that] there are three categories of barriers that patients face when accessing care. I like to think of them as patient-based barriers, institutional-based barriers, and social-based barriers.” – Keri Maher, DO

Guest: 

Keri R. Maher, DO MS

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Director, Acute Leukemia Program

Massey Cancer Center

Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, VA

This is the first episode of a four-part series developed in connection with the ACCC education program Achieving and Maintaining Better Outcomes for Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and was made possible with support by Bristol Myers-Squibb.

Additional Reading/Sources

·       Healthcare Disparities Among African Americans Are Pervasive in the Treatment of AML. Blood. (2022)

·       Minority Health Disparities in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Metropolitan, Single-Center Retrospective Analysis. Blood. (2021)

·       The American Association for Cancer Research - Cancer Disparities Progress Report

·       Structural racism is a mediator of disparities in acute myeloid leukemia outcomes. Blood. (2022)

·       Disparities in mortality among acute myeloid leukemia-related hospitalizations. Cancer Med. (2023)