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Diagnosed With an MPN? Why You Should Consider a Second Opinion.

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Diagnosed With an MPN? Why You Should Consider a Second Opinion. from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo. 

 Physician assistant Lindsey Lyle explains the importance of seeking a second opinion when diagnosed with an MPN.

Lindsey Lyle is a physician assistant at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, specializing in hematological malignancies with a subspecialty in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). More about this expert here.

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Transcript:

Lindsey:

When a patient is initially diagnosed with an MPN, seeking a second opinion is generally a very good idea, especially if patients are perhaps in an area where they do not have access to academic medical center.

The reason is that MPNs are such a small percentage of blood cancers – and, blood cancers in and of themselves are very rare, so MPNs are very rare, and especially in rural places, physicians do not have access or experience so much with MPNs. So, especially in those scenarios, I always advise a second opinion.

However, even within the academic medicine world, for example, if a patient is referred to me by their primary care physician or our institution, we always offer patients to seek a second opinion. Really, this is to gather information and either encourage the patient because the recommendation is the same or also to perhaps have a different idea for treatment that may fit the goals of the patient better, and so, I’m always telling patients to seek second opinions.

An Expert Summary of Current MPN Treatment Options

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An Expert Summary of Current MPN Treatment Options from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

 MPN expert, Lindsey Lyle, provides an overview of therapies used to treat myelofibrosis (MF), polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET).

Lindsey Lyle is a physician assistant at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, specializing in hematological malignancies with a subspecialty in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). More about this expert here.

See More From the The Path to MPN Empowerment

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Can Diet and Exercise Reduce MPN Symptoms?

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Improving Life with MPNs: The Latest Research and How to Get Involved

Transcript:

Lindsey:

To overview the treatment types for MPNs, we have a variety of different mechanisms in which we use, and clumping these three main MPNs together, we can kind of break it down into, first of all, cytoreductive therapy, which is nonspecific, but really just reduces the amount of cells the bone marrow is producing. And so, it’s really to control the blood counts. And, different types of cytoreductive therapy generally are – hydroxyurea is used probably the most commonly.

There are some other sorts of chemotherapy that may be used in different instances. We also have biological agents, such as interferons, that may be used in patients with MPNs. We then have JAK inhibitors, which there are two FDA-approved JAK inhibitors at this point for myelofibrosis, and one approved for polycythemia vera.

We also have a variety of novel agents in clinical trials. These may be inhibiting different pathways of the cellular production or different signaling pathways at the level of the stem cell, so there are a variety of those. We also use hypomethylating agents in some patients who maybe have higher-risk disease, mainly myelofibrosis, that really changes the way that the stem cells are produced in the bone marrow in order to control the cell counts and also symptoms.

So, there are a variety of therapeutic measures that are taken. Additionally, not necessarily medication-related, but phlebotomy, which is considered a therapy for polycythemia vera, is generally used in order to reduce red blood cell volume, and then, aspirin is commonly used, especially in polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia as a supportive care medication to reduce risk of complications from the disease.

Can Diet and Exercise Reduce MPN Symptoms?

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Can Diet and Exercise Reduce MPN Symptoms? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo. 

What can YOU do to make a positive impact on your overall MPN care? Researchers Dr. Jennifer Huberty and Ryan Eckert review the latest research on how movement and diet can benefit people living with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).

Dr. Jennifer Huberty is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University. She focuses her research on the use of complementary approaches to manage symptoms and improve quality of life for patients living with myeloproliferative neoplasms. More about Dr. Huberty here: chs.asu.edu/jennifer-huberty.

Ryan Eckert currently works at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center. Ryan is the Research Coordinator for the MPN QoL Study Group and assists in research related to complementary health approaches in myeloproliferative neoplasms and other hematological disorders. More about Ryan here: mpnqol.com/research-team.

See More From the The Path to MPN Empowerment

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Improving Life with MPNs: The Latest Research and How to Get Involved

Transcript:

Ryan:

So, as far as the benefits of exercise for MPN patients, there’s many, and so, I guess starting with cancers as a whole, there’s a lot more research that’s been done in recent decades that looks at the effects of various forms of exercise and physical activity on other cancers. They just tend – researchers tend to do a lot more of that work in breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, et cetera.

And so, the research in exercise for MPN patients is actually really new, and nobody outside of Dr. Huberty in conjunction with Dr. Mesa and a few other researchers have done any research related to exercise specifically in MPN patients. Our yoga studies that we’ve done have been the first venture down that route for MPN patients. But, what we do know in general is that exercise has obviously systemic effects across the whole body.

So, you’re gonna get health benefits just in general from exercise, but as far as for MPN patients specifically, some of the things that we’ve seen with our yoga studies, which is obviously a form of physical activity, is that we’ve seen sleep improve in MPN patients, so we’ve seen a reduction in sleep disturbances or disruptions in their sleep, a quicker time to fall asleep, and then, less waking up throughout the night – so, just better sleep in general.

We’ve seen some reductions in fatigue that have been reported by MPN patients who have gone through our yoga studies, and then, we’ve also seen a few other reductions in some other symptoms, such as anxiety and reduced depressive symptoms, a little bit of reduced pain is another one we’ve seen. So, just in general, we’ve seen some of those effects on MPN patients through some of our yoga studies.

Dr. Huberty:

So, in terms of adding to what Ryan just said, I would just say that exercise – maybe yoga or walking – is good for your body. It’s good for your health. It’s a recommendation that we get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week. The more that MPN patients can be achieving that goal towards 150 minutes – yoga counting at that – the better off they’re gonna be, and it doesn’t have to be going for a run.

It can simply be going for a walk around the block. It can be standing at your desk when you’re working instead of sitting all the time. That’s not necessarily activity per se, but it is moving your body and less sedentary. So, I think just focusing on the more that patients can move their body every day, the better off they’re gonna be.

Dr. Huberty:                

So, yeah, the role of diet in MPN patients – so, this is the beauty about the quality of life study group, because we have all these wonderful investigators that are part of the team, and we do have Dr. Robyn Scherber, who’s at Mays with Dr. Ruben Mesa. She’s doing some work with keto diet right now, so it’s very new, so I don’t know if you’re familiar with the keto diet, but it’s very high-fat and very low-carbohydrate, extremely low levels of carbohydrates. I wouldn’t tell any patient to go start doing those things unless they’ve talked to their physician for sure, but we do know that based on how you eat does certain things to your body.

So, MPNs have high inflammatory markers, and so, we wanna decrease inflammation; we probably wanna eat foods that are going to be anti-inflammatory. So, berries, let’s say, is a good example of fruits that are anti-inflammatory, almonds are anti-inflammatory, and I’m not a dietitian by any means, it’s just that things that I know to be true for my own diet because everybody should be thinking about having an anti-inflammatory diet.

Processed foods are not healthy. They are higher-inflammatory. Breakfast foods, eating out, and the foods that you get when you eat out a lot are going to be more inflammatory than not. So, just those small things – lots of vegetables. Vegetables are very good. Lots of greens. But, there is research going on – again, just like exercise and yoga, it’s in its infancy because MPN has been an under-studied population for years, and we’re trying to power through and make that difference.

Am I Meditating Correctly? Getting the Most Out of Mindfulness

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Am I Meditating Correctly? Getting the Most Out of Mindfulness from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo. 

Dr. Jennifer Huberty explains how mindfulness, such as meditation and yoga, can have an impact on your overall health and well-being.

Dr. Jennifer Huberty is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University. She focuses her research on the use of complementary approaches to manage symptoms and improve quality of life for patients living with myeloproliferative neoplasms. More about Dr. Huberty here: chs.asu.edu/jennifer-huberty.

See More From the The Path to MPN Empowerment

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Can Diet and Exercise Reduce MPN Symptoms?

Expert Tips for Managing MPN-Related Anxiety

Improving Life with MPNs: The Latest Research and How to Get Involved

Transcript:

Dr. Huberty:    

If someone is wondering if they’re meditating correctly or not, or if two minutes of meditation is enough, if you turn to the science and the literature in terms of how much meditation you need, nobody knows. For every study that says five minutes, there’s a study that says 20 minutes, there’s a study that says an hour. I think it’s really important that the individual gets in touch with “what works for me.”

I think the most important thing is that if you’re sitting for meditation and you choose to sit for meditation, just simply listening to your breath – when you realize you’re off, thinking about what I’m making for dinner tonight or what’s gonna happen over the Thanksgiving holidays with my family, then you just say, “Oh, thinking,” and then you come back to, “Okay, where’s my breath? I’m breathing in, I’m breathing out. I’m breathing in, I’m breathing out.” So, it’s just being able to do that and not say, “Oh my God, I’m not doing this right, this isn’t working for me.” There is none of that. It’s supposed to be nonjudgment in the present moment.

“Oh, the present moment – I’m thinking. Now, in the present moment, I’m gonna go back to my breath.” So, it’s really understanding that, and I think it’s also important for people to understand that you don’t have to be seated in meditation. You can be standing in meditation, you can be laying in meditation, you can be kneeling in meditation. I think with MPN patients, not all sitting positions recommended in meditation might be comfortable. If you need a pillow under your tail, put a pillow under your tail. There’s no rulebook to say how you need to sit in meditation. I think that’s important.

And, there’s also other ways to be mindful. Coloring can be mindful. Walking and exploring the leaves and the landscape can be mindful. So, I think in our studies, yes, we’re encouraging meditation, using an app, but that’s to give people structure, education, and a background about what is meditation, but then, there is room for expansion to other things.

It’s pretty much the same thing with yoga. You’re quieting your mind; you’re focusing on your breath. There’s no rulebook that says you have to move a certain pace. You’re supposed to move with your breath, so if your breath is slow, your pace is slow. The other thing is that there is no right way to do a pose.

So, again, patients wanna know, “Am I doing this pose right?” Well, I can tell you that if you feel good in the pose, nothing is hurting you, your shoulder doesn’t feel like it’s doing something it shouldn’t, your head doesn’t feel like it’s in the wrong direction, and you’re watching the video and looking at what the instructor’s doing, you’re probably doing the pose just fine.

I think we get stuck on “Is this correct or not?” What we wanna be careful of is safety. You don’t wanna be standing on your head and wondering if you’re doing it correctly. You wanna have a basis, and that’s what we do in our programming, is it’s very basic, very foundational poses that you can learn the practice of meditating in the poses.

Expert Tips for Managing MPN-Related Anxiety

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Expert Tips for Managing MPN-Related Anxiety from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo. 

Health-related anxiety and worry can be overwhelming. Dr. Jennifer Huberty provides advice for using complementary approaches to cope with the emotional impact of a chronic cancer, like myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs).

Dr. Jennifer Huberty is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University. She focuses her research on the use of complementary approaches to manage symptoms and improve quality of life for patients living with myeloproliferative neoplasms. More about Dr. Huberty here: chs.asu.edu/jennifer-huberty.

See More From the The Path to MPN Empowerment

Related Programs:

Can Diet and Exercise Reduce MPN Symptoms?

Am I Meditating Correctly? Getting the Most Out of Mindfulness

Improving Life with MPNs: The Latest Research and How to Get Involved

Transcript:

Dr. Jennifer Huberty: 

With anxiety and worry – it’s like we get in this state of mind that we can’t seem to get out of, and then, thoughts just keep piling in and piling in and adding to more anxiousness and more anxiousness, and so, the key is quieting the mind, and the best way to do that is to focus on your breath, and again, just coming back to the moment, coming back to the moment. You can do body scans where you’re just thinking about where your body is in space, going from the tips of your toes all the way to the top of your head.

I recommend guided meditation for MPN patients, especially because it is difficult. The anxiety and worry is real. The fears are real. This is a – it’s a traumatic event to be diagnosed with any cancer, and the brain is a powerful thing in terms of getting in our way of healing and feeling better, and so, knowing that it’s powerful, we can quiet our mind so that our body can learn to let go. And, I will say that spending that time doing that with the anxiety and worry, there will be physiological symptoms that change – so, heart rate goes down, blood pressure goes down, sweaty palms decrease, stomachaches – those kinds of things will tend to go away as anxiety and worry goes down.

And, the other important thing I would say is a tip for managing is to be self-compassionate. So, that’s a big part of meditation and yoga philosophy, is self-compassion. And so….being okay with being anxious and being okay with being worried, and there’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s completely normal.

And so, learning to be compassionate in ways that you would be compassionate to a sibling, or a parent, or a best friend – use those same compassionate thoughts and feelings toward yourself.

Improving Life with MPNs: The Latest Research and How to Get Involved

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Improving Life with MPNs: The Latest Research and How to Get Involved from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo. 

Can yoga and meditation help improve life with an MPN? Researchers Dr. Jennifer Huberty and Ryan Eckert share what they’ve learned in their research in complementary medicine and how you can get involved.

Dr. Jennifer Huberty is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University. She focuses her research on the use of complementary approaches to manage symptoms and improve quality of life for patients living with myeloproliferative neoplasms. More about Dr. Huberty here: chs.asu.edu/jennifer-huberty.

Ryan Eckert currently works at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center. Ryan is the Research Coordinator for the MPN QoL Study Group and assists in research related to complementary health approaches in myeloproliferative neoplasms and other hematological disorders. More about Ryan here: mpnqol.com/research-team.

See More From the The Path to MPN Empowerment

Related Programs:

Can Diet and Exercise Reduce MPN Symptoms?

Am I Meditating Correctly? Getting the Most Out of Mindfulness

Expert Tips for Managing MPN-Related Anxiety

Transcript:

Dr. Huberty:

My name is Jennifer Huberty. I’m an associate professor at Arizona State University in the college of health solutions, and I’m preliminarily a researcher.

I do teach a course a year, but I do research, mostly using complementary approaches delivered digitally, and I focus on cancer patients and also middle-aged pregnancy age lifespan, if you will, of women. So, women’s health and cancer.

Ryan:

My name is Ryan Eckert, and I’m a research coordinator with the Mays Cancer Center, which is at University of Texas Health in San Antonio.

So, in regards to what I’m excited about with the research that we have ongoing, I’m excited about the potential to help improve MPNs’ just quality of life and their well-being in general.

It’s a pretty under-studied area, especially as it relates to MPNs specifically, so there’s been a lot of work over the past couple decades as it relates to pharmacologic and more medicine-derived approaches with MPN patients, and we’re just now kind of realizing that there’s a little bit of a gap in some of the research that we’ve been doing, and there’s some unmet symptom burden needs and quality of life needs among MPN patients, and me, my background is more so in exercise science, and so, I’m all about the complementary approaches and the physical activity-based approaches.

And so, it’s pretty exciting for me to see the field of just cancer research in general, but also the research as it relates to MPN, start to evolve more towards the complementary and alternative approach route as it relates to mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and other physical activity interventions.

Dr. Huberty:

In relation to what I’m excited about with MPN research, I could say ditto to exactly what Ryan just said because he said it very well, and I feel strongly the same, and my background is in exercise physiology, and I’ve been working – helping women and cancer patients adopt physical activity behaviors. But, yoga is a physical activity behavior, but it has this really cool mindfulness component.

And, meditation has this mindfulness component where it’s exciting to see that we can be educating and providing MPN patients with a way to manage their symptoms themselves and rely a little bit less on their physicians in terms of “I’m feeling really anxious. What can I do?” If you’re feeling anxious, we’re giving them the tools that they can use to work on the anxiety themselves.

So, quieting their mind, allowing them to understand that it’s okay to feel anxious, and there’s nothing wrong with them, and if they’re having fears, that that’s normal, and that inviting those feelings and emotions in and just quieting their minds through yoga or meditation is so powerful. And so, I’m really excited about the fact that we’re giving them a tool that’s not just “Here’s a pamphlet, here’s what you should do,” we’re actually providing them an opportunity to practice it, to do it safely in their homes, and we’re also giving them a resource that’s consumer-based.

So, all of our interventions – the yoga and the meditation that we’ve been working on – have been with partners. So, our yoga partner is Udaya.com then, Calm.com, which is the meditation app. And so, these are things that we might provide for patients for free during the study, but when the eight-week or 12-week study is over, typically, any patient, any participant wouldn’t have access to the intervention anymore, but here we are with a consumer-based product that’s available to them.

So, we’ve taught them how to use it, we’ve made them comfortable, we’ve helped them to see that they can see improvements in the way that they feel, and then they have the ability to continue to use this as needed. Symptoms are gonna change over time – less anxious, more anxious, less fatigue, more fatigue, those kinds of things – and this helps them with the ups and downs of symptoms. So, I’m super excited about offering something to the patients that can be a lifelong friend, if you will.

Ryan:

So the MPN quality of life study group is a little bit of an acronym for the myeloproliferative neoplasm quality of life study group, and so, Dr. Mesa has obviously been working in this field of MPN research for decades now, and he had what he used to call the MPN quality of life international study group, and that was basically just a variety of different researchers from the U.S., and also abroad internationally.

Based in the U.S., we have a range of different physicians and researchers across four or five different institutions, and we all tend to focus on very similar research involving MPNs or other blood-related cancers. And so, the MPN quality of life study group is essentially just a collection of those – I think it’s somewhere between 10 and 12 different physicians and researchers that do similar research.

So, in order for patients to find out more about the MPN quality of life study group, they can – so, we do have a website that we just created a little less than a year ago, and it’s just www.mpnqol.com, and if they go there, we just have some information related to what our mission as a group is. We also have a tab on that website that explains all the different researchers and positions that make up the group.

So, if you were interested in, say, a particular researcher or physician, there’s links in there to go to their professional websites, and then, there’s also links within the tab of that website that covers some of the ongoing studies that we have. So, patients can go there, click on that link, and fill out an eligibility survey for a study that they might be interested in, and then, the project coordinator or research assistant will be in touch with them related to their eligibility