Platform Identifies Discrepancies Between Practice Guidelines and Real-World Practice Patterns in MM

An analysis of patient data using an online patient portal suggests a disparity exists between practice recommendations and real-world practice patterns for patients with multiple myeloma (MM).

HealthTree Cure Hub for Multiple Myeloma is an internet-based platform that provides access to patient-reported data.  Clinical trials have seen an increase in the use of patient-reported data, as it gives valuable insight concerning quality-improvement.

 “For example, proteasome inhibitor-based maintenance after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is a consensus recommendation in many practice guidelines for high-risk MM yet real-world adherence to this practice remains uncertain,” explained Nathan Sweeney, PhD, HealthTree Foundation, Lehi, UT, and colleagues,

The HealthTree Cure Hub for Multiple Myeloma database was used to examine post-ASCT maintenance therapy in 110 patients with high-risk MM.

Of those included in this study, 44% received proteasome inhibitor-based maintenance therapy, 55% received immunomodulatory imide drug maintenance, less than 1% received “other,” and less than 1% did not report maintenance therapy.

“The benefits of PI-based maintenance in MM are well established for high-risk MM,” wrote Dr Sweeney and colleagues, adding, “However, analysis of patient-reported data using an online patient portal, HealthTree Cure Hub for MM, suggests a disparity between practice recommendations and real-world practice patterns.”

“These findings, and others from online patient portals, can serve as a springboard in helping investigators to identify areas for quality-improvement initiatives,” they concluded.—Marta Rybczynski