Specialty Compared to Oncology Delivered Palliative Care for Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Specialty Palliative Care, Primary Palliative Care.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Relapsed Adult AML, Primary Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia, High Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Basic parameters: 18 years — 120 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
Unsure about the terms? Read our patient guide →
Overview
This research study is evaluating whether primary palliative care is an alternative strategy to specialty palliative care for improving quality of life, symptoms, mood, coping, and end of life outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Detailed description
Patients with newly diagnosed AML confront a sudden and life-threatening diagnosis, requiring an immediate disruption of their life and an urgent hospitalization to begin therapy. During their hospitalization for chemotherapy, patients with AML often experience difficult physical symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life and physical function. Patients with AML also experience significant psychological distress as they combat the abrupt onset of illness, uncertainty regarding their prognosis, physical and social isolation during hospitalization, and complete loss of independence. The abrupt onset of these symptoms can be distressing to both the patient and their family and friends (also called "caregivers").
Research has shown that early involvement of a team of clinicians specializing in lessening (or "palliating") these physical and emotional symptoms and helping patients and their caregivers cope with AML improves their quality of life and experience with their illness. This team is called "specialty palliative care" and consists of physicians and advanced practice providers who work closely and collaboratively with the oncology team to care for patients and caregivers. Research has also shown that training oncology clinicians to incorporate palliative care skills into their practice, called "primary palliative care," is an alternative strategy to having specialty palliative care clinicians care for patients with leukemia.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether specialty palliative care or primary palliative care is the best way to improve the quality of life and experience of patients with AML and their caregivers. This study will randomly assign hospitals to deliver either specialty palliative care or primary palliative care for patients with AML. Participants in this study will receive either specialty or primary palliative care during their hospital stays based upon which strategy their hospital has been assigned to. Participants assigned to specialty palliative care will be care for by both oncology and palliative care clinicians during their hospital stays for AML. Participants assigned to primary palliative care will be cared for by oncology clinicians who have been trained in palliative care during their hospital stays for AML.
Interventions
- Behavioral Specialty Palliative Care
Participants assigned to specialty palliative care will be cared for by both oncology and palliative care clinicians during their hospital stays for AML. - Behavioral Primary Palliative Care
Participants assigned primary palliative care will be cared for by oncology clinicians who have been trained in palliative care during the hospital stays for AML.
Primary outcome measures
- Quality of Life (QOL) [Time frame: Over 12 weeks]
Secondary outcome measures (10)
- Patient Quality of Life (QOL) [Time frame: Up to 2 Weeks]
- Patient Depression Symptoms [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
- Patient Anxiety Symptoms [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
- Patient Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
- End-of-Life (EOL) Communication [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
- End-of-Life (EOL) Care [Time frame: Last 30 days of life]
- Caregiver Quality of Life (QOL) [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
- Caregiver Burden [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
- Caregiver Depression Symptoms [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
- Caregiver Anxiety Symptoms [Time frame: Up to 12 Weeks]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Patient Inclusion Criteria
- Hospitalized patients (age ≥ 18 years) with high-risk AML defined as:
- Patients with new diagnosis ≥ 60 years of age
- An antecedent hematologic disorder
- Therapy related-disease
- Relapsed or primary refractory AML
- Within five business days of initiating therapy with either a) intensive chemotherapy (7+3) or modification of this regimen on a clinical trial, or a similar intensive regimen requiring prolonged hospitalization; or b) hypomethylating agents +/- additional agents or modification of this regimen on a clinical trial.
- Caregiver Inclusion Criteria
- Adult (≥18 years) relative or friend of a participating patient who the patient identifies as living with or has in-person contact with them at least twice per week.
Exclusion criteria
\- Patient Exclusion Criteria
- Patients with a diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APML)
- Patients with AML receiving supportive care alone
- Patients with psychiatric or cognitive conditions which the treating clinicians believe prohibits informed consent or compliance with study procedures
- Patients seen by a palliative care clinician (MD, DO, APP) during two previous hospitalizations in the six months prior to enrollment
- Patients expected to be discharged within 2 days
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
Study locations
United States · 20 centers
- University of Alabama - Birmingham — Birmingham
- Stanford University — Stanford
- University of Colorado Denver I Anschutz Medical Campus — Denver
- University of Miami — Miami
- Moffitt Cancer Center — Tampa
- Emory University — Atlanta
- Northwestern University — Evanston
- Indiana University — Bloomington
- … and 12 more centers
Identifiers
NCT: NCT05237258 · 21-646