Why Should DLBCL Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up?

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Why Should DLBCL Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Why is it vital for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients to engage in their care? Expert Dr. Amitkumar explains the importance of speaking up and the value of considering a second opinion.

Dr. Amitkumar Mehta is Director of the Lymphoma Program and CAR T Program and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office at O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. Learn more about Dr. Mehta.

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How Can DLBCL Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making?

Transcript:

Katherine:

Why should patients feel empowered to speak up?

Dr. Mehta:

So, that is very, very important because at the end, anybody and the patient is in the center. As we talked about their preferences, shared decision-making, they need to speak up because, at the end, I need to know, we need to know as a care team their preferences, right? Who is going to be my support? Who’s going to be with me? Maybe they might have to move somewhere to get the treatment, right? Or sometimes I bring up and I have so many patients who actually brought up “Well, I have a trip planned on this date,” right, or “I have a graduation planned,” or “I have son or daughter’s wedding planned,” right?

So, they should feel empowered to speak up. Yes, they’re shocked at the first instance because of their diagnosis of cancer. But that part after sharing all the information about cancer and treatment, it eases up a little bit. Then they feel “Okay, it is not end of the road,” right? “I’m going to fight it out.” But at the same time, there are important life events planned. So, they need to speak up, not only for that but also, as we talked about, preferences, their choices about the clinical trial.

Sometimes it is okay to ask whether I can go for another opinion, especially now in many institutions there are specialists who just focus on lymphomas, right? In that case, it is okay to ask whether – anywhere else I should go for an opinion and see whether I have more options. So, patient is always in center. And I feel always comfortable when patients speak up, and I make sure that “Yes, I will make sure that whatever the preference is, I will try to meet those preferences.”

How Can DLBCL Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making?

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How Can DLBCL Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What is shared decision-making, and how can it help diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients? Expert Dr. Amitkumar Mehta explains the process and shares key questions to ask about treatment and care. 

Dr. Amitkumar Mehta is Director of the Lymphoma Program and CAR T Program and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office at O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. Learn more about Dr. Mehta.

See More from Thrive DLBCL

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DLBCL Treatment Approaches for Newly Diagnosed and Relapsed_Refractory Patients

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 DLBCL Treatment and Research Updates Patients Should Know About

DLBCL Treatment and Research Updates Patients Should Know About

 Why Should DLBCL Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up

Why Should DLBCL Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up?

Transcript:

Katherine:

What is shared decision-making, and how does it work?

Dr. Mehta:

Shared decision-making has evolved over the last couple of decades.

And exactly as we were talking about the treatment, this is – I always share with my patient that we are on your side, right? We are with you. We are part of your journey. And, of course, for anyone, this could be a brand-new journey, right? So, each person is different. Each person’s preference is different, right? In that case, when I have the details of whether it’s lymphoma or treatment, they also have input. They might have read somewhere. They might have a family member who had gone through the chemotherapy, and they have preferences, let’s say.

So, when we sit down and discuss that time, they also have an input on that. Write appropriate questions, you know. What is my diagnosis? What stage it is, right, whether it’s high risk or low risk? What are the potential for cure, right? What kind of chemotherapy you’re looking at, whether I have more options in that like clinical trial, right?

Yes, you said you were going to treat me with standard of care. Do I have an option of clinical trial? Like in DLBCL setting, R-CHOP, or R-EPOCH, which is the foundation of DLBCL treatment for so long. What is happening in the clinical trial is we are building on that foundation. We are building on the standard of care. So, there could be a potential that you are an eligible patient for X, Y, Z clinical trial, where you’re getting an added novel immunotherapy drug or a bispecific antibody.

Why you’re doing that to see whether we can improve upon whatever we have. So, in that, if patient is informed, they can also be a part of the conversation, right? It is just like when we go for, say, buying a car. It is not that a dealer is showing us a car, and we say, “Okay, I’ll go with it.” No, we say, “What color it is? I want this color. I want this seat. I want this model.”

I mean, that is a shared decision-making, right? And then we come to a conclusion. “Okay, this is the car that I prefer, I’m comfortable with, and I’m going to buy that.” It’s similar in cancer care.

An Expert’s Perspective on What It Means to Thrive With DLBCL

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An Expert’s Perspective on What it Means to Thrive With DLBCL from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What does it mean to thrive with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)? Expert Dr. Amitkumar Mehta shares how patients often adjust to their diagnosis and provides advice that can help them thrive.

Dr. Amitkumar Mehta is Director of the Lymphoma Program and CAR T Program and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office at O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. Learn more about Dr. Mehta.

See More from Thrive DLBCL

Related Resources:

How Can DLBCL Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making

How Can DLBCL Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making?

 Why Should DLBCL Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up

Why Should DLBCL Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up?

Transcript:

Katherine:

Dr. Mehta, welcome. Would you please introduce yourself?

Dr. Mehta:

I’m Amitkumar Mehta. I am the Director of Lymphoma Program and CAR T Program at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Alabama in Birmingham. I’m also Medical Director of Clinical Trial Office at UAB.

Katherine:

Great. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Dr. Mehta:

Thank you.

Katherine:

In your opinion, what does it mean to thrive with DLBCL?

Dr. Mehta:

Katherine, it’s really important question because the cancer is – we in our clinic call this a C word. And it is very dangerous, shocking most of the time. When somebody’s diagnosed with cancer, their whole life changes. And, in that, the first reaction is shock, that “Why me? Why this happen to me?” And either you’re a mother, you are a father, or many other roles that we have in our life. Everything kind of pauses.

And then it takes a little while for them to kind of understand the situation and kind of reset in a fight mode. And then everything changes. The other important thing is information about a cancer or any cancer as a matter of fact. Then we kind of assess the situation, assess the treatment options, which are plenty. And then we go in a mode that we want to fight it out. We see the light at the end of the tunnel. This all helps to kind of thrive in that situation.

But for that, the most important part is the information of the cancer, information about the treatment. And that way we can get together ourself and we can say that “Now I’m ready to fight whatever it may come in.” Many people cling to faith. Many people cling to their family. Many people cling to their support to have that mode of fight with a cancer.

And I say that, if all of this has – it’s kind of a recipe – if it all comes together, then you can thrive well throughout the whole – the phase of diagnosis to treatment to – if you’re cured, in a subsequent part of your life.