Optimizing Management of Chronic GVHD: The Care Team’s Role in Symptom Management and Patient Care

Panelists discuss how chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) differs from acute GVHD, its main challenges for patients, and its common symptoms and impact on daily life.

Panelists discuss how nurse practitioners educate patients about chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) and its long-term effects, exploring various educational resources and materials such as brochures, apps, websites, and videos that are most effective in supporting patients and their caregivers.

Panelists discuss how chronic graft-versus-host disease typically progresses in patients requiring third-line treatment and beyond, focusing on severe symptoms, the impact on quality of life, and potential long-term consequences of inadequately managed symptoms.

Panelists discuss how the care team identifies and manages symptoms in chronic graft-versus-host disease patients, particularly those with advanced disease, emphasizing key symptoms to monitor, approaches to symptom identification, and the critical importance of early detection and management for improving patient outcomes.

Panelists discuss how physician assistants educate and empower chronic graft-versus-host disease patients and their caregivers to recognize, report, and manage symptoms effectively, detailing strategies for patient communication, developing personalized symptom management plans, addressing challenging symptoms, and collaborating with the broader healthcare team to ensure comprehensive care.

Panelists discuss how the current treatment landscape for chronic graft-versus-host disease includes a range of immunosuppressive approaches, from traditional corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors to newer approved agents like axatilimab, ruxolitinib, belumosudil, ibrutinib, and abatacept, emphasizing key considerations patients should be aware of when undergoing these therapies.

Panelists discuss how axatilimab, a novel therapy for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), functions through a unique mechanism of action compared to other treatments, highlighting its potential role in cGVHD management and presenting key findings from the AGAVE-201 trial that demonstrate its efficacy and safety profile.

Panelists conclude by discussing the future of graft-versus-host disease management, expressing their hopes for the current treatment landscape and potential advancements that could further improve patient outcomes and quality of life.