Tag Archive for: Dr. Matthew Matasar

What To Do When Newly Diagnosed With Follicular Lymphoma?

What To Do When Newly Diagnosed With Follicular Lymphoma from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What should newly diagnosed follicular lymphoma patients take as next steps after diagnosis? Cancer patient Lisa Hatfield and Dr. Matthew Matasar from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center share advice for patients to be proactive in their care.

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Transcript:

Lisa Hatfield:

When you are first diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, you may not know what to do or what next steps to take. Dr. Matthew Matasar from Memorial Sloan Kettering Center shares what he encourages all his patients to do.

Dr. Matthew Matasar:

Everybody should have access to a second opinion pathology review.  This is independent of what the doctors are giving you advice in taking care of the illness, but just making sure that the diagnosis itself is correct. We know that the diagnosis of lymphoma is a tricky one for pathologists, particularly if they’re not pathologists that are seeing lymphoma under the microscope every day of the week. And when you go for a second opinion pathology review by having the slides sent to a major academic center, there’s a possibility that the diagnosis will be changed or revised in a way that’s meaningful meaning that it would lead to different recommendations for how to take care of your illness.  

Lisa Hatfield:

As Dr. Matasar says, you can ask your physician or community oncologist to send your diagnosis test results to another institution, particularly one with a lymphoma expert. Let’s listen as Dr. Matasar continues: 

Dr. Matthew Matasar:

You’re entitled to a second opinion medical review as well and going to see an expert in lymphoma if your first opinion was with a community oncologist or somebody referred by your primary care doctor who may not have singular expertise in these illnesses, can be helpful.

Lisa Hatfield:

The lymphoma expert that you seek a second opinion from may agree with your local oncologist and suggest collaborating with him/her on your care OR may suggest an alternative such as newer medications your local oncologist may not be up to date on or offer clinical trials. When you have this second opinion consult, be sure to ask questions like “Are there alternatives to the therapy my local doctor or you are suggesting?”, “What is the difference between my options?” and “Are there clinical trials or new drugs that I might be eligible for?”  We’ll go back to Dr. Matasar for his last recommendation now: 

Dr. Matthew Matasar:

Let your doctors know who you are, how you view things, how you like to receive your healthcare information. Are you a big picture or a detail person, and what are your priorities so that they can best match their recommendations to who you are as an individual, as a person, as a member of a family in the community so that they can give you the most personalized and appropriate recommendations possible.

Lisa Hatfield:  

By sharing with your doctor a little bit about you and your personality, you can set yourself up for success to get the best recommendations as possible. We hope these tips help you feel empowered as you begin your follicular lymphoma journey! 

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Follicular Lymphoma Research and Treatment Updates

Follicular Lymphoma Research and Treatment Updates from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Dr. Matthew Matasar shares follicular lymphoma treatment and research highlights from the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Dr. Matthew Matasar is a lymphoma expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Chief of Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen. To learn more about Dr. Matasar, visit here.

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Emerging Follicular Lymphoma Treatment Approaches


Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

Cancer researchers recently came together to share findings at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting also known as ASCO. Are there highlights from the meeting that follicular patients need to know about? 

Dr. Matasar:

The pace of innovation in follicular lymphoma is absolutely breathtaking. And the treatment options that are being explored and coming available to us now are really extraordinary. And they’re extraordinary because they offer this unparalleled possibility of very highly effective and less toxic, fewer less long-term and short-term side effects than prior options may have afforded us.  

This is particularly true in two general areas of investigation. The first is what we call immunotherapy or treatments that are designed to leverage your own immune system’s ability to kill cancer cells. And the second is what we would call targeted therapies, treatments that are designed to attack a specific enzyme, or protein, or pathway that is relied upon by follicular lymphoma cells to survive and to grow.  

Immunotherapy for follicular lymphoma is perhaps the most exciting of everything right now. And there’s a class of agents that are called bispecific antibodies. These are antibodies or proteins that have two specific regions on them, one that binds onto the surface of the follicular lymphoma cell and one that serves as sort of an activator or tractor beam for your own body’s healthy T cells. So, it attaches to the B cell. It drags over and stimulates T cells, and says, “Get them, guys.” And it causes your own body’s T cells to recognize, attack, and kill lymphoma cells for you.  

There’s a number of these agents that are in active clinical development. And we say updates at ASCO this year showing that these agents are very effective at treating follicular lymphoma even when prior chemotherapy agents have been unsuccessful at achieving durable remissions with really very little toxicity particularly after the first month of treatment is under your belt.  

Katherine Banwell:

What are you excited about when it comes to follicular lymphoma research? 

Dr. Matasar:

What I’m excited about is the overall pace of innovation. We have more drugs that are approved in the treatment of this illness in the last five years than in the 20 years that preceded it. And we have more options that we expect to become available over these next three years than were approved in the last five, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, therapies that modified the genetic signatures of the cells, treatments that used living cells and genetically modified those cells to attack your lymphoma, combinations of immunotherapies and targeted therapies.   

The innovation is really extraordinary, and it gives me tremendous hope that over these upcoming years, I’m going to have even more choices to offer my patients with follicular lymphoma, ways to improve their quality of life, the length of their life, and to find better ways to manage this illness.  

Katherine Banwell:

That sounds so promising. 

Why Should Follicular Lymphoma Patients Seek a Second Opinion?

Why Should Follicular Lymphoma Patients Seek a Second Opinion? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Lymphoma expert Dr. Matthew Matasar encourages patients to take an active role in their care and explains why they should feel comfortable seeking a second opinion.

Dr. Matthew Matasar is a lymphoma expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Chief of Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen. To learn more about Dr. Matasar, visit here.

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What Is the Patient Role in Follicular Lymphoma Treatment Decisions?


Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

What is your advice to patients who may feel like they’re hurting feelings by seeking a specialist or a second opinion? Any advice for self-advocacy?  

Dr. Matasar:

I would say there is this. Any doctor who is taking care of you and doesn’t want you to have the best information and the best options is not a very good doctor. This is never about the doctor. It’s not about me. It’s about you. And if a doctor’s ego is getting in the way of a patient getting the best care, the best options, the most modern and up-to-date available information around their illness and around how best to take care of it, that doctor better check themselves.  

Similarly, the patient should understand that it’s about you. It’s not about me or your other doctors, or anything. It’s about you getting what you deserve, which is the clearest insight and the most appropriate treatment options available. And you should have no reservations in seeking that out, and honestly most oncologists are happy to have you get a second opinion, because they’ll feel more supported in your care. It’s stressful to be an oncologist sometimes too. And for you to get a second opinion from an expert and the expert says, “You know what? Yeah, your oncologist is spot-on.” 

That can be very validating and reassuring. And then, that expert oncologist is a resource to your local oncologist, and they can work together in your care. Everybody works better as a team. It’s just as true for oncologists as for anybody.  

Three Key Steps for Newly Diagnosed Follicular Lymphoma Patients

Three Key Steps for Newly Diagnosed Follicular Lymphoma Patients from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Once a patient has been diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, what’s next? Lymphoma expert Dr. Matthew Matasar shares his expert advice on key next steps for newly diagnosed patients.

Dr. Matthew Matasar is a lymphoma expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Chief of Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen. To learn more about Dr. Matasar, visit here.

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Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

What three key pieces of advice would you have for a patient who has just been diagnosed with follicular lymphoma?  

Dr. Matasar:

The first thing I would say is that everybody should have access to a second opinion pathology review.  

This is independent of what the doctors are giving you advice in taking care of the illness, but just making sure that the diagnosis itself is correct. We know that the diagnosis of lymphoma is a tricky one for pathologists, particularly if they’re not pathologists that are seeing lymphoma under the microscope every day of the week. And when you go for a second opinion pathology review by having the slides sent to a major academic center, there’s a possibility that the diagnosis will be changed or revised in a way that’s meaningful meaning that it would lead to different recommendations for how to take care of your illness.  

The second is that you’re entitled to a second opinion medical review as well and going to see an expert in lymphoma if your first opinion was with a community oncologist or somebody referred by your primary care doctor who may not have singular expertise in these illnesses, can be helpful. It can be reassuring if that doctor says, “You know what? I agree with your local oncologist, and I’m happy to collaborate with their care.” 

Or they may say, “You know, we have a different perspective. There’s newer data. There’s newer options. There’s clinical trials. There’s other resources to bring to bear,” and maybe your choices are broader than you may have originally believed.  

And the third is just to be that advocate for yourself, to take charge, and to participate in your care. Let your doctors know who you are, how you view things, how you like to receive your healthcare information. Are you a big picture or a detail person, and what are your priorities so that they can best match their recommendations to who you are as an individual, as a person, as a member of a family in the community so that they can give you the most personalized and appropriate recommendations possible.  

Katherine Banwell:

Why should patients consider seeing a follicular lymphoma specialist?  

Dr. Matasar:

I think that it’s increasingly important when you’re looking at a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma to consider seeking an expert second opinion from a lymphoma specialist. And this is because our understanding of this disease is changing very rapidly. The therapeutic armamentarium is changing very rapidly with new treatments becoming available every year. And sometimes a community oncologist who is required to be expert in many different diseases may not have access to the same body of information or the same insights that somebody who specializes in this disease may have at their fingertips.  

What Is Follicular Lymphoma? What Are the Symptoms?

What Is Follicular Lymphoma? What Are the Symptoms? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Lymphoma expert Dr. Matthew Matasar defines follicular lymphoma and provides an overview of common disease symptoms.

Dr. Matthew Matasar is a lymphoma expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Chief of Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen. To learn more about Dr. Matasar, visit here.

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Follicular Lymphoma Research and Treatment Updates


Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

What is follicular lymphoma? 

Dr. Matasar:

Good question. So, follicular lymphoma, the first thing to say is that it’s a type of lymphoma. And lymphomas are cancers of lymphocytes, of immune cells. So, these illnesses are all cancers that come from and are of the immune system. There’s a tremendous variety of lymphomas, more than 100 different types, and these range from the slowest-growing to the fastest-growing things, and everything in between. But follicular lymphoma is one of the more common of these 100 plus diseases.  

It’s actually the second most common in America, and the most common of what we call the indolent, or naturally slow-growing, B-cell lymphomas. It’s called follicular lymphoma, because the stage of lymphocyte growing up at which we think the cells went wrong was when they normally live inside of these little nests, or follicles, inside of lymph nodes. People get confused. They’re like follicular, is that like hair follicles? It’s not that I have that many left. But no, it’s really about the lymph node follicles. And that’s sort of the stage at which we think that the cells went wrong.  

Katherine Banwell:

What are the symptoms of follicular lymphoma?  

Dr. Matasar:

So, it’s a very variable illness. Sometimes, this is a disease that presents with symptoms. People have swollen lymph nodes, swollen glands that they feel or that their doctors felt, or they have lymph nodes or other growths in the body that are causing pain or discomfort. More typically, however, this will be found accidentally doing testing for other purposes.  

You have a kidney stone, and your doctors do a CAT scan to look at the kidney stone. And they say, “Oh, what are those lymph nodes swollen about? What’s that about? We should probably figure out what’s going on there.” And then, there’s the third group which sort of present with what we all vague or constitutional symptoms, which is stuff like progressive fatigue, or maybe even fevers, or night sweats. But fatigue is a very common symptom that sometimes don’t even realize was there until sort of hindsight when they’re feeling better. And they’re like, “Wow, I didn’t know I could feel this good. I guess I’ve been tired for these last years. And I feel so much better. Thanks, doc.” 

Why Is It Important for Follicular Lymphoma Patients to Be Empowered?

Why Is It Important for Follicular Lymphoma Patients to Be Empowered? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Lymphoma expert Dr. Matthew Matasar explains why it is important for patients with follicular lymphoma to feel empowered in their care and shares how he empowers his own patients.

Dr. Matthew Matasar is a lymphoma expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Chief of Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen. To learn more about Dr. Matasar, visit here.

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Why Follicular Lymphoma Patients Should Speak Up About Symptoms and Side Effects


Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

How do you empower patients? 

Dr. Matasar:

For me, empowering patients isn’t something that you do. It’s just inherent to the practice of medicine and taking care of people with lymphoma. There’s lots of ways that you can think about this, but one of my standard lines when I’m talking with patients is that I’ll say that this is their climb.  

They’re the mountain climber, and I’m just the sherpa. I’m the one lugging the bags and trying to help point out the paths. But this is their climb, and it’s about them, and it’s never about me.   

Katherine Banwell:

Why is it important to empower patients? 

Dr. Matasar:

It’s inherent. It’s obvious at some level that you have to empower patients because the care of patients, the care of people, is about people. It’s not about the doctor, or the nurse, or the clinical trial, or the drug, or pharma, or the hospital. It’s about you. I can only be as good a doctor as I am at listening to you or to my patient. And this is extremely clear with diseases like follicular lymphoma, which have such tremendous variety in terms of how it affects people, variety in terms of the options that I have to offer as treatments. It’s an extremely individualized and personalized situation.  

So, if it’s not about you, and your goals, and your preferences, and your priorities, then I can’t do my job right.  

Katherine Banwell:

Right. You need as much information as possible from the patient.  

Dr. Matasar:

It’s all about the patient. And the clearer that I understand my patient’s personality, priorities, preferences, family situation, all of that stuff, the better job I’ll be able to do at helping them pick the right path forward.  

What Are Common Side Effects of DLBCL Treatment?

What Are Common Side Effects of DLBCL Treatment? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Lymphoma expert Dr. Matthew Matasar reviews common side effects of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treatment.

Dr. Matthew Matasar is a lymphoma expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Chief of Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen. To learn more about Dr. Matasar, visit here.

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Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

What are common side effects of DLBCL treatment approaches? 

Dr. Matasar:

Like anything, the side effects are dependent upon the treatments that we use. So, treatments that use chemotherapy-based approaches will often have the side effects that we associate with chemotherapy. And obviously not all chemotherapies are created equally. But treatments like R-CHOP or R-CHP-pola, or Polarix regimen, these are treatments that use traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy agents and anthracycline based chemotherapy that have well-characterized side effects that are unfortunately unavoidable but often temporary things like hair loss.  

And hair loss is unavoidable with these treatments although temporary.   

The Oncovin or polatuzumab treatments can lead to a problem called neuropathy, which can manifest as numbness or tingling in the fingers or toes or constipation because our intestines have nerves too that are affected by these treatments. Certainly fatigue and lowering of the immune system are common with these and other chemotherapy medicines as well. And your doctors will always talk to you about ways to reduce the risk of infection such as vaccination and such as anti-infective medicines or immune boosting medicines to try to limit the risk of infection while receiving such treatments.  

Why Should You Consider Seeing a DLBCL Specialist?

Why Should You Consider Seeing a DLBCL Specialist? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Lymphoma expert Dr. Matthew Matasar explains the benefits of seeing a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) specialist and encourages patients to be partners in their own care.

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Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

Why should DLBCL patients consider seeing a specialist? What are the benefits? 

Dr. Matasar:

The benefits of a specialist in the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is that this field is changing rapidly. Treatments like this R-CHP-pola regimen, we understand that these data are very new reported only months ago but perhaps academic centers may have a greater sophistication or comfort with using these newer data to support the care of our patients.  

The second is that there are many important and highly relevant clinical trials that are ongoing as we continue to try to improve outcomes for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma either receiving their first treatment or for those patients who, unfortunately, suffer relapse. Some of these treatments may only be available at academic centers of excellence and understanding that your options for treatment may be different under the care of an expert in this disease is an important thing to consider when trying weigh how best to approach receiving care.  

What Do DLBCL Patients Need to Know About Treatment and Research?

What Do DLBCL Patients Need to Know About Treatment and Research? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

How have diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treatment options evolved? Lymphoma expert Dr. Matthew Matasar reviews current treatment options for DLBCL and shares his perspective on where research is heading.

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Transcript:

Katherine Banwell:

Dr. Matasar, what are the types of treatments currently available to treat DLBCL? 

Dr. Matasar:

So, DLBCL, or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, is the most common type of aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in America and really around the world. Aggressive lymphomas are a double-edged sword. They tend to grow quickly over weeks to months, and they tend to make people feel sick if left untreated, but they’re potentially curable in many although not all patients.  

We now have a growing body of treatment options available to maximize the changes of cure and to minimize short and long-term risks in patients diagnosed with aggressive B-cell lymphomas.  

The first recent innovation is a treatment program that seems to improve upon the standard of care treatment called R-CHOP, R-C-H-O-P, which is a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapies in the treatment of newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. And this new regimen substitutes out one of those medicines, the O, which is a medicine called Oncovin, or vincristine, with a newer medicine that has a long name called polatuzumab vedotin, or pola for short. And we found in the recent Polarix trial was that by introducing this new pola medicine instead of the older Oncovin treatment, we’re able to lead to longer durations of remission for patients with newly diagnosed large cell lymphoma and is able to do so without any increase in short- or long-term side effects, which makes it a real win in my mind.  

That’s one major innovation. The second is in patients who, unfortunately, have a relapse of their diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or whose disease does not go into remission after first treatments. We now know that patients who have an early relapse or have, what we call, primary refractory disease, meaning it didn’t go away after the first treatment at all, is we now have data using treatments that are calling CAR-T cell, or chimeric antigen receptor modified T-cell therapy. CAR-T cell therapy is a treatment in which we use your own body’s healthy T cells. Some of those are filtered out, and they are genetically re-engineered in way that trains them to attack lymphoma cells and then given back as a living treatment, as a mini-transfusion.  

This CAR T-cell therapy was compared to a standard chemotherapy program that uses high dose therapy with stem-cell rescue or auto transplant, or stem cell transplants, for patients with this high-risk scenario, early relapse or primary refractory disease. 

And what we found is that CAR T-cell therapy with either the treatment called axi-cel (Yescarta) or the treatment called liso-cel (Breyanzi),two different CAR-T therapies, were superior to the traditional chemotherapy and stem-cell transplant approach in these highest risk patients leading to marked improvements in outcomes in these patients and maybe even improving overall survival, which is a very high benchmark at this early time point in these two critical trials. So, improvements in newly diagnosed therapy and improvements for those patients who suffer early relapse or primary refractory disease mark two important advances in the care of patients with DLBCL.  

Katherine Banwell:

What are you excited about when it comes to DLBCL treatment and research?  

Dr. Matasar:

What I’m most excited about is our ability to improve outcomes in the highest risk patients. We often talk in academic circles about unmet need, which is just a silly way of saying we really wish we could do better. And there’s unmet need across the line when we think about how we take care of patients with aggressive B-cell lymphoma, newly diagnosed patients, patients who are newly diagnosed who may be older or more frail, who may need specialized treatment approaches, patients who suffer a relapse of this disease one or multiple times.  

We cure many patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, but many is not enough. And we’re not going to rest until we can have uniform and universal success and, unfortunately, we’re not there. But we’re working to get there day after day. The options are expanding. The trials are promising. Novel therapies are very exciting, and I really believe that these next years are going to see profound innovation and improvements in outcomes. That comes with clinical research and with patients being willing to trust doctors to participate in this journey together and doctors being willing to take a chance and offer patients novel therapies when we know that our current treatments are simply inadequate.