The Gap Between Academic and Community-Based MCL Treatment

Peter Martin, MD, a hematology oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, provides his expert opinion on how to close the gap between recommended treatment pattens for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and patterns observed in the real-world setting.

According to Martin, it’s important to consider why we are seeing discrepancies and why are we not seeing the regiments you would expect prescribed as frequently. The first option is that the patients one sees in clinical practice do not mirror those in the community setting. According to Martin, the patients in community practice may have more complicated cases than those typically seen in academic settings.

Another possibility is that there needs to be more of an effort to educate patients and physicians on the appropriate treatment options for MCL. This can be achieved with campaigns and through larger organization such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology.