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Tips for Early Patient Identification for CAR T-Cell Therapy and Care Continuity with Community Providers

In the community setting, accurate patient identification for CAR T-cell therapy is critical for appropriate and timely treatment. Often, patients with advanced hematologic cancers are considered for, or become aware of, CAR T-cell therapy after the optimal treatment window has closed.¹ Additionally, there are significant financial, logistical, and educational barriers that patients and their caregivers may face in accessing this potentially life-saving immunotherapy.² However, less is known about how patients are educated on CAR T-cell therapy and how well they are able to maintain relationships with their referring providers. Additionally, there remains an opportunity to improve community oncology education surrounding timely patient identification and ways to harmonize collaboration between referring community programs and accredited treatment centers.

ACCC—with its program partners Cancer Support Community, the Association of American Cancer Institutes and the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology, and with support by Kite Pharma—aims to better understand patient and caregiver education and experience with CAR T-cell therapy and identify ways in which cancer programs can improve timely identification and referral as well as improve communication and care coordination between referring and treating providers. ACCC will also share tips and highlight resources that can be utilized to educate patients and their caregivers on the option of CAR T-cell therapy early in the treatment journey, to enable more patients to potentially qualify for therapy.

For more information on this program, please contact the ACCC Provider Education department.

Featured Publications

Working Summit Summary

Advancing-CAR-T-Cell-Therapy-Care-Continuity-and-Collaborative-Patient-Education-450x582 Read the summary of a working summit ACCC convened to improve timely identification of patients in the community setting who are eligible to receive CAR T-cell therapy. Review findings from a case study on successful care continuity as well as learnings from the real-world application of ACCC’s RECUR framework, a standardized plan to increase early patient referral through collaboration between community cancer programs and academic medical centers.
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Advancing CAR T-Cell Therapy Care Continuity and Collaborative Patient Education

Learn strategies to improve CAR T-cell therapy care continuity and promote collaborative patient education. This downloadable infographic contextualizes the regulatory landscape of CAR T-cell therapies, offers guidance to help referring practices and CAR T-cell therapy centers optimize care coordination, and highlights key findings from ACCC's recent working summit.
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Tips for Early Patient Identification and Care Continuity for CAR T-Cell Therapy

In 2023, ACCC conducted virtual focus groups to better understand patient and caregiver education and experience with CAR T-cell therapy and identify ways in which cancer programs can improve timely identification and referral as well as understand current practices for communication and care coordination between referring and treating providers.
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Resource Library

Optimize care coordination through the complex stages of CAR T-cell therapy with this comprehensive resource bank of curated, nationally available materials for the multidisciplinary care team. Discover expert insights, articles, videos, and practical tools focused on transitions of care before, during, and after CAR T-cell therapy that can help care teams improve timely patient identification, strengthen referral relationships between cancer programs and authorized treatment centers, and mitigate barriers to access for eligible patients.
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Cancer Buzz Podcasts

Highlights from the ACCC Working Summit: Advancing CAR T-Cell Therapy Care Continuity and Collaborative Patient Education – [PODCAST] EP 150

April 30, 2024

On February 7, 2024, ACCC hosted a virtual Working Summit: Advancing CAR T-Cell Therapy Care Continuity and Collaborative Patient Education to explore topics including patient and caregiver needs as well as care coordination between referring providers and certified CAR T-cell therapy centers.
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Community CAR T-Cell Patient Identification Framework — [MINI PODCAST] EP 138

December 18, 2023

As the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy continues to expand as an effective treatment for hematologic malignancies, understanding how to identify eligible patients early and implementation of an effective framework for identification can improve care coordination and better prepare community cancer programs for widespread use of CAR T-cell therapy.
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From Oncology Issues

Emerging Opportunities in CAR T-Cell Therapy to Improve Early Patient Identification and Care Continuity

Explore how peer-to-peer education and regional networking opportunities between academic medical centers, community programs, and providers can promote effective care continuity and gain insights on how to engage patients and caregivers in a candid and thorough discussion about the distinct adverse events (AEs) associated with CAR T-cell therapy.
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If They Recur, You Should Refer

This Community Oncologist Patient ID Roundtable brought together 3 professional societies: the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the Association of Community Cancer Centers, and the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy with the aim of developing a standardized framework to enable community oncologists to easily assess patients for CAR T-cell therapy, with a focus on large B cell lymphoma.
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References

Kansagra A, Farnia S, Majhail N. Expanding Access to Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapies: Challenges and Opportunities. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2020;40:1-8. doi:10.1200/EDBK_279151
Mikhael J, Fowler J, Shah N. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapies: Barriers and Solutions to Access. JCO Oncol Pract. 2022;18(12):800-807. doi:10.1200/OP.22.00315

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