Helping patients the vaccine can't protect
Martine Elias describes the ongoing impact of the pandemic on immunocompromised cancer patients (400 words, 2.5 min)
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“Cancer patients are very vulnerable,” said Martine Elias, Executive Director of Myeloma Canada, “and the pandemic has had a huge impact on the myeloma patient community and all cancer communities.”
An experienced patient advocate, Elias (photo below) described the lived experiences of cancer patients during the pandemic on the most recent episode of the NPC Podcast, hosted by Peter Brenders.
“Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the immune system, so it affects [our patients’] immunologic response to disease,” Elias explained, “if they get a cold, they’ll get a cold a hundred times worse than we do.”
“If your immune system is compromised, you won’t build the same kind of immunity to a virus that a healthy individual would,” she said. “Because cancer patients are immunocompromised, they may not get the same kind of protection [from a vaccine]. At one or two doses, they may get protected at 50 or 60 percent, but we don’t know that for sure.”
“There’s a lot of research going on right now in Canada to determine the impact of the vaccine on immunocompromised patients,” Elias said. “There’s a large multi-centre trial that’s going on right now in multiple myeloma to look at how cancer patients are being protected by the vaccine.”
The vaccine’s reduced efficacy in immunocompromised patients has made them much less likely to risk exposure to the virus, according to Elias.
“Given what’s happening now with the Delta variant and the fourth wave, I’m seeing a lot of cancer patients who are staying home,” she said. “It’s really difficult, and you can see it’s had a big impact on the psychological component of living with cancer.”
Isolation has been a major issue for cancer patients throughout the pandemic, Elias explained. Not only were cancer treatments and diagnoses delayed, “a lot of patients who were diagnosed early [in the pandemic] received the terrible news alone, without caregivers or loved ones with them at the doctor’s office.”
Elias is hopeful that a booster or third dose of the vaccine will offer solace to some patients. “If they’re protected at a lesser degree, maybe the third dose will boost their protection to normal levels. We don’t know for sure, but the science and the logic behind it would point to that being likely.”
“After that, in 2022, we’ll have to come up with the real boosters, because right now a third dose is not really a booster,” she said. “A booster will look at new variants and incorporate new targets, and hopefully the research is going on right now to address this.”
Further reading: Myeloma Canada and Lymphoma Canada produced a white paper on improving access to cancer therapies in Canada, updated for 2021.
LISTEN NOW
Hear the whole story: On this week’s episode of the NPC Podcast, our host Peter Brenders spoke at length with Martine Elias about the challenges cancer patients face in getting treatment, even outside of a global pandemic. Tune in for their discussion of barriers to accessing cancer treatment, using real world evidence to guide therapy, and why patient involvement is crucial.
WEEK 09/07/21
Jazz Pharmaceuticals has received Health Canada approval of Sunosi (solriamfetol) for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea in adults. Sunosi is the first dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (DNRI) approved to treat EDS.
KalGene Pharmaceuticals has announced the publication of a peer-reviewed article demonstrating the ability of KG207, a biological molecule, to cross the blood-brain barrier and eliminate amyloid-beta (Aβ). Amyloid-beta is a protein fragment that accumulates in the brains of patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, which is hypothesized to be a main cause of Alzheimer’s.
Natco Pharma Canada has announced the launch of PrNat-Lenalidomide capsules, the first generic alternative to Revlimid approved by Health Canada. Lenalidomide is used in combination with dexamethasone for treating multiple myeloma in patients not eligible for a stem cell transplant.
CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME
The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our vocation and inspire others.
More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee's view, they stand for a representative cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. Each week, NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honouree.
2018 Inductee
Frédéric Fasano
Montréal
Editor’s Note: Frédéric Fasano is now the President and COO of Valeo Pharma.
A passion for science and biology, and a will to understand them, is what led Frédéric Fasano to the pharmaceutical industry. After earning his PharmD degree from the University of Paris-Sud and his Masters in Business Administration from ESSEC Business School, Fasano embarked on a career that would lead him from his hometown in France, to Italy, and eventually Montréal.
Originally from the city of Annecy, France, he and his family relocated to Montréal in 2011 when he moved to the position of CEO of Servier Canada.
Throughout his career in the industry, Fasano has travelled and done business all over the world. Coming face to face with different business cultured of Europe, Latin America, and North America helped him formulate some of his own ideas about how a business should operate and how to develop a wining business culture.
“The common point of all those foreign experiences is diversity and how diversity of people can bring different perspectives of the same business questions,” he said.
“You have to make sure, first and foremost, that different people from different cultures are working together.”
“Fostering an environment in which employees feel they themselves can make a difference is a good guideline for managing my team.”
Now, as a proud resident of Montréal, Fasano and his family have developed a new passion: hockey.
“I came to Canada seven years ago and I didn’t know anything about hockey, and seven years on, we are probably one of the French families most supporting the Canadiens de Montréal.”
STILL LISTENING? TRY ANOTHER PODCAST
And now for something completely different. As part of an educational series on dermatologic concerns in Black skin, Dr. Neil Shear, former Head of Dermatology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and founder of its Drug Safety Clinic, and Dr. Brian Carleton, Senior Clinician Scientist at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, discuss Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), also known as toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). SJS/TEN is a drug-induced disease involving extensive blistering of the skin and a high risk of death—but genetic markers can help predict which patients it may occur. Tune in for a discussion of genetic screening and rare drug reactions.
NEXT WEEK
In the 09/14 edition of NPC Healthbiz Weekly, Brock University’s Vice President of Administration, Ken Chan, talks vaccine passports and back-to-school safety measures. It’s easy to get your no-charge subscription and have the issue sent to your phone or inbox each Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. sharp.
Stay safe, stay sure, and stay on your game. We’ll see you again in September.