Dr. Martin on the Importance of Designing Clinical Trials for Real-World Utility in MCL

Peter Martin, MD, chief, Lymphoma Program, Meyer Cancer Center, associate professor of medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses the importance of designing clinical trials for real-world utility in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

During the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting, findings from a retrospective, real-world study of previously untreated patients with MCL were presented, demonstrating discrepancies in practice patterns and treatment recommendations between academic and community settings in this patient population.

As such, it is important to design relevant clinical trials of investigational regimens that can be delivered in the community setting, where most patients with MCL will be treated, Martin explains. Developing therapies for which patients in the community setting are ineligible to receive or that are too complicated to be administered in the community setting is not optimal, Martin adds.

Additionally, because MCL is a complex subtype of lymphoma, various disease presentations and patient factors should be considered during treatment selection, Martin says. As such, community practitioners who treat patients with MCL should seek educational programs or academic support to better approach management strategies for patients, Martin concludes.