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Managing Immunosuppressant Therapy Risks - Physician & Patient Guidance

Learn about the risks and benefits of immunosuppressant therapy and how to discuss them effectively with patients. This outline covers various risks, including infections, lymphoma, and other potential side effects. Understand the importance of proper communication in addressing these risks to ensure patient safety and adherence to treatment. Find insights on balancing risks and benefits for both physicians and patients. Stay informed and confidently guide patients through their therapy journey.

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Managing Immunosuppressant Therapy Risks - Physician & Patient Guidance

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  1. Communicating With Your Patients About the Risks of Therapies MeenakshiBewtra, MD MPH University of Pennsylvania Division of Gastroenterology Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics CCEB

  2. Outline: • Risks of immunosuppressant therapy* • Benefits of immunosuppressant therapy* • Putting it all together: for the physician • Putting it all together: for the patient • Conclusion • Immunosuppressant therapy: thiopurine analogs, biologics, calcineurininhibitors, methotrexate

  3. Outline: • Risks of immunosuppressant therapy • Benefits of immunosuppressant therapy • Putting it all together: for the physician • Putting it all together: for the patient • Conclusion

  4. Risks in Immunosuppressant Therapy* • Serious/Opportunistic Infections • Lymphoma • Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma (HSTCL) • Progressive Multifocal Leukoencepholapthy (PML) *All following risks estimates are approximations based upon (my) calculations of available data

  5. Disclaimer All risks estimates are approximations based upon calculations of available data

  6. Risks in Immunosuppressant Therapy • Serious/Opportunistic Infections • 3% / year risk monotherapy • 5% / year with combination therapy • Lymphoma • Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma (HSTCL) • Progressive Multifocal Leukoencepholapthy (PML)

  7. Risks in Immunosuppressant Therapy • Serious/Opportunistic Infections • 3% / year risk monotherapy • 5% / year with combination therapy • Lymphoma • 4x increased risk (monotherapy) • 8x increased risk (combination) • Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma (HSTCL) • Progressive Multifocal Leukoencepholapthy (PML)

  8. Risks in Immunosuppressant Therapy • Serious/Opportunistic Infections • 3% / year risk monotherapy • 5% / year with combination therapy • Lymphoma • 4x increased risk (monotherapy) • 8x increased risk (combination) • Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma (HSTCL) • 160x increased risk • Progressive Multifocal Leukoencepholapthy (PML)

  9. Risks in Immunosuppressant Therapy • Serious/Opportunistic Infections • 3% / year risk monotherapy • 5% / year with combination therapy • Lymphoma • 4x increased risk (monotherapy) • 8x increased risk (combination) • Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma (HSTCL) • 160x increased risk • Progressive Multifocal Leukoencepholapthy (PML) • 1 out of every 7000 treated; infinitely increased risk

  10. Risks in Immunosuppressant Therapy • Serious/Opportunistic Infections • 30/1000 annual risk (monotherapy) • 50/ 1000 annual risk (combination therapy) • Lymphoma • 0.8/1000 annual incidence (monotherapy) • 1.6/1000 annual incidence (combination) • Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma (HSTCL) • 0.0034 /1000 annual incidence • Progressive Multifocal Leukoencepholapthy (PML) • 0.14/1000 (not necessarily annual incidence)

  11. Outline: • Risks of immunosuppressant therapy • Benefits of immunosuppressant therapy • Putting it all together: for the physician • Putting it all together: for the patient • Conclusion

  12. Risk of medication cessation: • Azathioprine Trenton X et al. ClinGastroenterolHepatol 2009;7:80-5

  13. Risk of medication cessation: • Infliximab Intra-abdominal surgeries CD-related hospitalizations Rutgeerts P et al. Gastroenterology 2004;126(2):402

  14. Risk of medication cessation: • Cessation of anti-TNF therapy when on combination therapy Louis E et al. Gastroenterology 2012;142(1):63-70

  15. Corticosteroids: are bad • Fluid retention • CHF • Metabolic abnormalities • Hypertension • Muscle weakness • Loss of muscle mass • Osteoporosis • Compression fractures (spine) • Aspectic necrosis (femoral/humeral head) • Pathologic fractures • Tendon rupture • Hyperglycemia • cataracts • Gastric ulcers • Pancreatitis • Impaired wound healing • Bruising • Pseudotumorcerebri • Emotional disturbances • Menstrual irregularities • Cushingoid features • Growth suppression (children) • Secondary adrenocortical /pituitary unresponsiveness • Diabetes mellitus • Glaucoma • Weight gain

  16. Corticosteroids: Infection risk • Serious infections: TREAT registry • Adj OR 2.2 (1.5-3.3), p=0.001 • Opportunistic infection: Mayo Clinic • OR 3.3 (1.8-6.1), p<0.001 • Post-operative infections: elective IBD surgery • Any infection (29%): OR 3.7 (1.2-11.0) • Major infection (20%): OR 5.5 (1.1-27.3) • Higher risk with higher dosages used Aberra et al. Gastro 2003;125:320 Lichtenstein et al Clin Gastro Hep 2006;4:621 Toruner et al. Gastro 2008;134:929-36

  17. Corticosteroids: risk of mortality • Lichtenstein: TREAT • Corticosteroid use: OR 2.1 (1.1–3.8) p=.016 • Lewis: GPRD Lichtenstein et al. Clin Gastro Hep 2006;4:621–630 Lewis et al. Am J Gastro 2008;103:1428–1435

  18. Untreated/Active IBD: risk of mortality Lewis et al. Am J Gastro 2008;103:1428–1435

  19. Outline: • Risks of immunosuppressant therapy • Benefits of immunosuppressant therapy • Putting it all together: for YOU • Putting it all together: for the patient • Conclusion

  20. How do these risks stack up?* Adapted from: Lewis JD et al, Am J Gastro 2008 Lichtenstein G et al. CGH 2006 Kandiel A et al. Gut 2005 Siegel C. et al. CGH 2006 Herrinton L et al Pharm Drug Safe 2012 Trenton X et al. CGH 2009 Rutgeerts P et al. Gastro 2004 Singh S et al, IBD 2012 Toruner M et al, Gastro 2008 Grijalva CG et al, JAMA 2011 Bloomgren G et al NEJM 2012

  21. Why is changing the way we practice so hard? • How one perceives risk: • Epidemiologist: risk is a measured property of a group of people • Physician/patient: risk is a specific property of ME • Perception becomes reality: • Reject statistical reasoning in favor of anecdotal reasoning • Accept common risks we “know” in favor of uncommon risks we “fear”

  22. Outline: • Risks of immunosuppressant therapy • Benefits of immunosuppressant therapy • Putting it all together: for the physician • Putting it all together: for your patient • Conclusion

  23. Discussing risk with patients • Numeracy: basic math skills for health-related activities • Over 50% of Americans lack minimum basic skills to apply to arithmetic operations of numbers in print materials • Patients have problems with risk presentation, framing, proportions/probabilities, denominator neglect Burkell J et al, J Med LibrAssoc 2004 Aptar AJ et al, J Gen Intern Med 2008 Renya VF et al, Individ Differ 2008 Fagerlin A et al, Med Decis Making 2007

  24. Discussing risk with patients • Risk presentation: • Avoid vague labels such as “low,” “very low,” “often” or “very common” which lead to inconsistent interpretations • Framing • Relative risks can make small (rare) risks appear large (infinite) • Absolute risks anchor all risks • Use similar frame (“gain frame” or “loss frame”) Burkell J et al, J Med LibrAssoc 2004 Aptar AJ et al, J Gen Intern Med 2008 Fagerlin A et al, Med Decis Making 2007

  25. Discussing risk with patients • Avoid “artificial” constructs such as proportions, ratios, probabilities, odds • Require conditional math skills • Use frequencies/count data • Denominator neglect: people are very sensitive to numerators • Ex: 1,286 in 10,000 viewed riskier than 24 in 100 • Present all risks with similar denominator Burkell J et al, J Med LibrAssoc2004 Reyna VF et al Learn Individ Diff 2008 Akl EA et al Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2011 Brase GL J BehavDecis Making 2002 Fagerlin A et al Am J Health Beahv 2007 Garcia-Retamero Am J Pub Health 2009 Ancker JS et al, J Am Med Inform Assoc 2006 Yamagishi K. ApplCognPsychol 1997

  26. Discussing risk with patients • Use visual aids!

  27. Outline: • Risks of immunosuppressant therapy • Benefits of immunosuppressant therapy • Putting it all together: for YOU • Putting it all together: for the patient • Conclusion

  28. Conclusions: • There are documented risks with immunosuppressant therapy • The absolute risks are low • Did not discuss: higher-risk populations (elderly, young men) • The absolute risks of active/untreated disease and/or corticosteroid therapy are high • Be aware of numeracy issues when discussing with patients • Avoid vague descriptions of risk, use absolute counts with similar denominators, and consider incorporating visual aids

  29. Thank you!

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