COMy 2022 | Addressing the benefits & potential drawbacks of early detection & intervention in the iStopMM study
Sigurdur Kristinsson, MD, PhD, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland, briefly explains the main aims of the iStopMM study (NCT03327597), which is to screen individuals for precursor conditions and offer early intervention. Prof. Kristinsson then explains how participants in this study are given questionnaires to assess their mental status as a method of analyzing both the harms and benefits of early detection and intervention. This interview took place at the 8th World Congress on Controversies in Multiple Myeloma (COMy) 2022, held in Paris, France.
Transcript (edited for clarity)
Within the iStopMM, the iStopMM is all about early detection and early intervention. We are screening and detecting these individuals, then offering those that we think should be treated, treatment, and by that we hope to minimize the incidence of myeloma in Iceland. In a few years, we hope we will have treated most of the smoldering individuals, preventing them from developing myeloma. We are offering individuals with smoldering myeloma initiation of early treatment strategies with KRd or len dex...
Within the iStopMM, the iStopMM is all about early detection and early intervention. We are screening and detecting these individuals, then offering those that we think should be treated, treatment, and by that we hope to minimize the incidence of myeloma in Iceland. In a few years, we hope we will have treated most of the smoldering individuals, preventing them from developing myeloma. We are offering individuals with smoldering myeloma initiation of early treatment strategies with KRd or len dex. This is the protocol that we are using at the moment.
Really, we don’t call them patients since they are healthy individuals that we have screened, and there are potential benefits of screening, but there are also harms that we take very seriously. So, every day, we send out lots and lots of email and questionnaires about the mental status of our participants. We send out 70,000 emails to 70,000 individuals, and we have more than 60% response rate to that. We are analyzing both the harms and the benefits of early detection and early intervention.
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Disclosures
Gelgene, Amgen
