An interview with Katarzyna Lisowska, president of the Per Humanus Foundation.
Acute myeloid leukemia: the problem is not access to therapy, but recognition and rapid implementation of treatment
Published July 31, 2024 07:29
How do you assess the current situation of acute myeloid leukemia patients?
Acute myeloid leukemia is a disease that is very well covered in Poland. We have all the therapies available, as in Europe and the world. Of course, there is always something missing, because new drugs, new molecules come in. We think that acute myeloid leukemia is really well treated in Poland, if the patient gets to the center very quickly. Because it's not the problem to treat the patient, it's the diagnosis and quick implementation of this treatment.
What, then, can be improved in terms of diagnosis so that the patient receives the right treatment quickly?
This is a river topic. First of all, I would focus on family doctors, or PCPs, where patients are treated for up to months. I would rely on the diagnosis and vigilance of family doctors. The second thing is the diagnosis of the disease itself, to know how to treat the disease, with what drugs. All drugs at the moment are targeted drugs, so you need molecular diagnostics, genetic testing. For this, too, our patients are waiting a very long time.
And what do patients who are already diagnosed with the disease ask most often as they report to you?
They mainly ask about psychological support, whether they can get it somewhere. They ask about the life expectancy of other patients, they look for similar patients, and sometimes, if they are elderly people, they need printed, written materials from us (we also send them by mail to our patients).
In Poland, are the problems of patients with acute myeloid leukemia recognized by policymakers?
I think they are recognized, because since we got almost all available therapies in reimbursement 2 years ago, we consider it a huge success. I remember stories of patients who raised money for therapies, but didn't get the treatment because it wasn't reimbursed at the time. There was a milestone two years ago, and I think it will be maintained. Because this is a disease that you die from really very quickly. Not all patients can undergo a bone marrow transplant. We need to talk about that too. There are other blood cancers like myelofibrosis, hyperplasia, which can progress to acute myeloid leukemia. And these patients have no chance of a bone marrow transplant, so they usually have to have all available treatment options.
