A study of hypomethylating agents (HMAs) in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes or neoplasms (MDS) found a significantly lighter time burden associated with oral HMAs than intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC) HMAs. This first-of-its-kind report was presented at the Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Society of Hematologic Oncology in Houston, Texas.
“The innovation of oral HMA therapies, which can be administered at home, offers a strategy for reducing the time toxicity associated with MDS treatment by increasing the number of ‘home days’ for patients,” wrote Amer Zeidan, MBBS, of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues.
The investigators retrospectively analyzed healthcare claims database records from 2020 to 2022 of adult patients with MDS who underwent HMA therapy. The propensity-score-matched cohort included 158 patients who received oral HMAs and 158 who received IV or SC HMAs. The investigators then calculated the total direct healthcare encounter days for each group, comprised of the time patients spent undergoing parenteral HMA administration, infusions, emergency room visits, and inpatient or outpatient care.
The analysis found that patients who received oral HMAs had approximately half the mean total of health care encounter days as those who received IV or SC HMAs, at 15.2 days versus 32.8 days, respectively.
Among patients who received oral HMAs, the largest portion of health care encounter days was spent in the outpatient setting, at 34.9%. Among patients who received IV or SC HMAs, the largest portion was spent receiving parenteral therapy, at 55.5%, followed by time under inpatient care at 16.2% and time for outpatient visits at 14.9%.
“Further research is warranted to validate these results in a larger patient cohort and compare these findings with other cancer therapies,” Dr. Zeidan and colleagues concluded.
Reference
Zeidan A, Olopoenia A, Costantino H, et al. Time toxicity for patients receiving oral versus parenteral hypomethylating agents for myelodysplastic syndromes/neoplasms. Abstract #MDS-772. Presented at the Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Society of Hematologic Oncology; September 4-7, 2024; Houston, Texas.