CAR-T access gap sends myeloma patients travelling
Some people with multiple myeloma are travelling outside their home regions for CAR-T treatment — and sometimes paying the cost themselves. Begoña Barragán, president of the Spanish Association of People Affected by Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukaemia (AEAL), raised the issue in Madrid on 3 September. She said not every hospital can provide the treatment, forcing some patients to seek specialist centres in another autonomous community.
Haematologist Rafael Alonso, of Madrid’s Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, said Extremadura has no centre able to administer CAR-T treatment. He called for investment in more centres and for patients who must travel to be helped to make the journey as comfortably as possible.
Referral procedures can also hold up access, Alonso said. Patients must pass checks and committees, although he said efforts in recent years had shortened the process, particularly when treatment is urgent.
For World Multiple Myeloma Day on 5 September, AEAL has launched its Juntos creando conciencia campaign to improve awareness and help spot symptoms earlier. Barragán said bone pain, tiredness, anaemia, repeated infections and kidney problems can all be warning signs, though they do not automatically point to blood cancer.
Alonso said estimated survival after diagnosis stood at three to five years two decades ago. Median survival can now exceed 15 years, he said, and doctors are beginning to consider the possibility of a cure for some patients who remain free of disease after several treatments.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com