Keeping Patients on Treatment: Management of Toxicities Related to New Therapies and Challenges of Symptom Management Research

Abstract

A symptom is defined as a subjective experience that reflects changes in the physical functioning, cognition, or sensations of an individual. It is a well-known and disturbing fact that patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are living with uncontrolled or inadequately managed symptoms. Consequences of poorly controlled physical symptoms in MM patients create major public health problems associated with decreased quality of life, increased healthcare-related costs, and decreased adherence to therapy. Mature data from randomized – controlled trials suggest that ongoing or continuous treatment to suppress the MM clones can lead to improved progression-free and overall survival. Symptom research in MM is particularly challenging despite that inadequately controlled symptoms leads to non- adherence in patients with ongoing MM treatment.