Clinical pathways are an invaluable tool to help clinicians distinguish among available therapies to arrive at the optimal approach for a given patient. However, they are also prone to criticisms that they do not take patient diversity or the latest clinical advances into account, both of which can be addressed through comprehensive pathway design and updating strategies. These challenges are illustrated by clinical pathways for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the management of which is complicated by the diversity of patient characteristics—including age, comorbidities, and genetic mutations—that influence prognosis and generate discrete therapeutic recommendations for individualized care. Due to the recent emergence of both new formulations of existing chemotherapies and novel targeted therapies, the therapeutic landscape in AML has expanded considerably, requiring updates to existing clinical pathways to ensure continued delivery of the most clinically- and cost-effective care individualized to particular patient populations.
Learning Objectives:- Characterize the downstream clinical and economic burdens of suboptimal AML treatment and the potential impact of integrating new and emerging treatments into pathways
- Review design and implementation strategies for clinical pathways that offer flexibility to account for patient age, comorbidities, genetics, and treatment setting
- Appraise the latest clinical and pharmacoeconomic data surrounding emerging therapies in AML, including novel chemotherapy formulations, FLT3 inhibitors, and IDH inhibitors for informed pathway placement
- Integrate recent therapeutic advances, available resource utilization data, and current clinical guidance into AML clinical pathways discussions
This educational activity is supported by an educational grant from Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., and Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
