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Adolescents and Young Adults with Sickle Cell Disease

August 30, 2021
  • 00:00Funding for Yale Cancer Answers is provided
  • 00:04by Smilow Cancer Hospital and AstraZeneca.
  • 00:08Welcome to Yale Cancer Answers with
  • 00:10your host doctor Anees Chagpar.
  • 00:12Yale Cancer Answers features the latest
  • 00:14information on cancer care by welcoming
  • 00:17oncologists and specialists who are on the
  • 00:19forefront of the battle to fight cancer.
  • 00:21This week it's a conversation about the care
  • 00:24of adolescents and young adults with sickle
  • 00:27cell disease with Doctor Cece Calhoun.
  • 00:29Dr Calhoun is an assistant professor of
  • 00:32medicine and hematology and assistant
  • 00:34professor of Pediatrics in hematology
  • 00:36oncology at the Yale School of Medicine,
  • 00:39where Doctor Chagpar is a
  • 00:42professor of surgical oncology.
  • 00:44Cece, maybe we could start off by
  • 00:46you telling us a little bit about
  • 00:48yourself and what you do.
  • 00:50I like to call myself a lifespan
  • 00:52hematologist, and both my clinical
  • 00:55and research interests center around
  • 00:57the care of young adults with sickle
  • 01:00cell disease as they transition
  • 01:02from pediatric to adult care.
  • 01:04We know it's a really high
  • 01:05risk time for them.
  • 01:06And so all the work that I do both in
  • 01:08the clinic and in the research setting
  • 01:10is about making that process better.
  • 01:13Is sickle cell disease a cancer?
  • 01:15Tell us more about what
  • 01:17exactly sickle cell disease is
  • 01:18and why it's being seen
  • 01:21by an oncologist?
  • 01:23That's a great question, so actually sickle
  • 01:26cell disease is an inherited condition
  • 01:28of the red blood cells and so many
  • 01:32people are familiar with anemia
  • 01:34and conditions of that sort,
  • 01:37which affect red blood
  • 01:38cells and hemoglobin.
  • 01:39And that's what sickle cell disease is
  • 01:42a condition of, and it's genetic.
  • 01:44So patients are born with it,
  • 01:46and what it manifests as is a normal
  • 01:48red blood cells are kind of squishy.
  • 01:50I like to think of them as Jelly
  • 01:52doughnuts because I like food.
  • 01:54But when you have sickle cell disease
  • 01:55because of a genetic mutation
  • 01:57your red blood cells
  • 01:59are not squishy and malleable,
  • 02:00they can be really stiff
  • 02:02and misshapen like a sickle.
  • 02:04They can be shaped like a sickle or a banana,
  • 02:06and so if you think of
  • 02:08your blood cells as pipes,
  • 02:10imagine if you had your Jelly doughnuts
  • 02:12kind of going through those pipes,
  • 02:14bouncing off the walls,
  • 02:15taking oxygen to where it needs to go,
  • 02:17and you replace those cells
  • 02:19with sticky stuff,
  • 02:20fragile misshapen red blood cells like
  • 02:22sickle cells that are scratching up
  • 02:24the red blood vessels sticking together,
  • 02:27causing blockages, impeding flow,
  • 02:28and then you can imagine all
  • 02:31the complications that patients
  • 02:33with sickle cell face.
  • 02:34Most saliently or what patients have
  • 02:39to really deal with is a lot of pain.
  • 02:41That's the thing that brings
  • 02:43them to the hospital.
  • 02:44And acute meaning an unplanned basis,
  • 02:46but any part of our body where
  • 02:48there are blood vessels,
  • 02:50those misshapen
  • 02:50cells can get clogged up in those
  • 02:53blood vessels and cause problems.
  • 02:55It's important for patients
  • 02:57with sickle cell disease to have
  • 02:59regular care by an oncologist
  • 03:01who also understands hematology,
  • 03:02the blood, to make sure that all their
  • 03:05organs are in tip top condition
  • 03:06and that we treat anything before
  • 03:08there's a problem.
  • 03:10Now, I would think that if
  • 03:12you're a pediatric patient and
  • 03:15this is an inherited condition,
  • 03:17you might have a sense of whether or
  • 03:20not you have sickle cell disease
  • 03:22based on whether your parents did.
  • 03:24But somebody had to start with the
  • 03:27genetic mutation to begin with.
  • 03:29So how many of your patients
  • 03:31actually know that they have sickle
  • 03:33cell disease from the time that
  • 03:35they were born
  • 03:37and how many of them present to you acutely?
  • 03:42In the United
  • 03:44States we have the benefit of the newborn
  • 03:47screen that all babies born in hospitals,
  • 03:50when they
  • 03:51get their heel poked and get that
  • 03:53little spot of blood that can test
  • 03:55for a variety of genetic conditions
  • 03:56and sickle cell disease is
  • 03:58included in those conditions.
  • 04:00So if a child has an abnormal newborn screen,
  • 04:03oftentimes the pediatrician will
  • 04:05refer them to a hematologist for
  • 04:08further evaluation and work up.
  • 04:09And sometimes, even if it's abnormal
  • 04:12to show sickle cell trait,
  • 04:14which means that you don't have the disease,
  • 04:16but you can be a carrier,
  • 04:18and if your partner has the disease,
  • 04:20you can have a child with sickle
  • 04:21cell disease.
  • 04:22We can figure that out from
  • 04:24the newborn screen.
  • 04:25So these days we know pretty early on
  • 04:27which is critical to the survival
  • 04:29of our young children or infants and
  • 04:32toddlers and in other countries
  • 04:34the newborn screen isn't quite as universal,
  • 04:38and so sometimes children could present
  • 04:39with swelling of the hands and feet.
  • 04:42That's something called dactylitis,
  • 04:44which is pretty rare these
  • 04:46days as a presenting sign.
  • 04:48And then there's some patients with more
  • 04:51milder forms of sickle cell disease
  • 04:53that don't know until they're older
  • 04:56children or young adults,
  • 04:57but most of the time we get them in
  • 04:59our catchment when they are young
  • 05:01because of their newborn screen and
  • 05:03can really wrap our arms around them
  • 05:05and give them the care they need.
  • 05:06Let's suppose you're a newborn baby and
  • 05:09you had your heel poked and they tell
  • 05:11you that you have sickle cell disease.
  • 05:14Well, presumably they don't tell you
  • 05:16they tell your parents and you get
  • 05:18referred to a pediatric oncologist.
  • 05:20If that means that your red blood
  • 05:22cells are now more
  • 05:25like bananas than squishy Jelly
  • 05:27Donuts, what can you do about that?
  • 05:29I mean, is it reversible?
  • 05:31At this time the only cure for sickle
  • 05:34cell disease or way to reverse
  • 05:36those cells is by replacing your
  • 05:38bone marrow with another persons,
  • 05:40but that's pretty rare.
  • 05:42Later in the show, you get to talk
  • 05:44a little bit more about therapies
  • 05:45coming down the pipeline for patients,
  • 05:47but right now that's the only
  • 05:49way to reverse.
  • 05:51However, if you are a little baby
  • 05:53and your parents find out that
  • 05:55you have sickle cell disease
  • 05:57the benefit of coming and talking
  • 05:59to a pediatric oncologist and
  • 06:00hematologist who knows about this
  • 06:02is that you now have a team member,
  • 06:05somebody on your team that
  • 06:06can help your baby,
  • 06:07or you if you're the baby,
  • 06:08stay healthy and safe.
  • 06:10And what that looks like as a
  • 06:13toddler is getting them started on
  • 06:15penicillin prophylactically or in
  • 06:17advance before there's any problems
  • 06:19because we found that as
  • 06:22recently as the late 70s,
  • 06:25there was kind of a peak
  • 06:27in infancy and toddlerhood of death,
  • 06:29because patients with sickle cell
  • 06:31were getting really bad infections,
  • 06:33but we found that if we vaccinate them
  • 06:35and give them prophylactic penicillin,
  • 06:37they live well into adulthood.
  • 06:39The challenge becomes,
  • 06:39how do we help them when they
  • 06:41go from infant to adults?
  • 06:43And that's what I work on in my work.
  • 06:44So just to back up a little bit when
  • 06:47you say prophylactic penicillin,
  • 06:49do you mean like every day for
  • 06:51the rest of their life?
  • 06:53So definitely every day for the
  • 06:56first five years of their life.
  • 06:58But what it does is it
  • 07:01protects them against really bad
  • 07:03infections like pneumococcus you know
  • 07:05patients with sickle cell disease,
  • 07:07their spleen doesn't really work
  • 07:09as well as somebody without sickle
  • 07:11cell and because of that they are
  • 07:14susceptible to certain types of
  • 07:16infections and that penicillin
  • 07:17every day just like a vitamin helps
  • 07:19them to stay healthy and safe.
  • 07:22So why is there this transition then
  • 07:24from childhood to young adulthood?
  • 07:27What's the difference in terms of
  • 07:29the disease and how it's managed
  • 07:30that requires a specialist like you?
  • 07:33Well, I think it's a variety of things.
  • 07:36It's not just the disease,
  • 07:38but it's becoming a young person
  • 07:40and learning how to navigate the
  • 07:41health care system on your own
  • 07:43and earlier we talked
  • 07:45about newborns and
  • 07:46if you were a newborn and found out
  • 07:48you had sickle cell disease that your parents
  • 07:51would help you take you to the doctor.
  • 07:53Manage your care,
  • 07:54give you that prophylactic penicillin.
  • 07:56But the beautiful part about being
  • 07:58a young adult is you can start to
  • 08:00assume some of that care for yourself,
  • 08:02so it's pretty
  • 08:03multi Factorial is a word I always
  • 08:05like to use and I like to
  • 08:08think that I was a pretty smart young
  • 08:10adult like I made some good decisions.
  • 08:12I'm a doctor now,
  • 08:13but I still did some foolish things
  • 08:15as a 16-17 eighteen year old and
  • 08:18that's without a chronic disease.
  • 08:19So in sickle cell disease,
  • 08:21what we can do as lifespan hematologists
  • 08:23and as health care providers is
  • 08:26really help our patients as their
  • 08:28disease complications may become
  • 08:29a little more severe as they're
  • 08:32learning to manage themselves.
  • 08:33As they're learning to navigate a
  • 08:35pretty complex health care system,
  • 08:37and as they're just trying to be productive,
  • 08:40happy young adults.
  • 08:42What kinds of things do you
  • 08:45talk about with your patients?
  • 08:47It sounds like
  • 08:48after their five years old,
  • 08:49they're no longer on penicillin,
  • 08:52but there's still no way to reverse
  • 08:54the condition, so you're still
  • 08:56at risk of all of those sticky,
  • 08:58misshapen blood cells forming
  • 09:00clots all over your body,
  • 09:01which presumably can cause
  • 09:03all kinds of problems.
  • 09:05Is it just a matter
  • 09:07of telling your patients what to
  • 09:10watch for and when to seek help?
  • 09:12Or are there things that they can do
  • 09:15to reduce the risk of clots and
  • 09:18other problems that it can cause?
  • 09:22Absolutely, so I want to answer
  • 09:24your question in two parts.
  • 09:26First, what other parts of the
  • 09:28body does sickle cell affect?
  • 09:30How does that show up for
  • 09:33patients across their lives?
  • 09:35One of the things that our patients most
  • 09:38deal with is pain every single day.
  • 09:41So when those blood vessels get clogged
  • 09:43up by those sickle cells and those juicy
  • 09:45Jelly doughnut cells can't get through,
  • 09:47that means oxygen isn't
  • 09:48going to where it needs to
  • 09:50in our bodies.
  • 09:51And because of that,
  • 09:52that can result in pretty bad bone pain
  • 09:55for patients with sickle cell disease,
  • 09:57and this is the thing that really affects
  • 09:59their quality of life as young students
  • 10:01trying to learn and keep up in school.
  • 10:03If you have to be admitted to
  • 10:05the hospital several times
  • 10:06a year you can imagine how
  • 10:08frustrating that can be as a scholar.
  • 10:11Other parts of the body that are affected
  • 10:13by sickle cell disease are numerous.
  • 10:16Though patients with sickle
  • 10:17cell disease can have something
  • 10:18called acute chest syndrome,
  • 10:20which is a really bad infection of the
  • 10:22lungs that can be very challenging,
  • 10:24they can even have strokes as young people,
  • 10:27which is one of the reasons that
  • 10:29compelled me as a Med student to
  • 10:31pursue hematology was seeing a sickle
  • 10:33cell patient eight years old who had
  • 10:34a stroke in Pediatrics.
  • 10:36And in order to kind of get a jump on these things,
  • 10:38we do several things,
  • 10:40we do screenings.
  • 10:42Something called a transcranial Doppler,
  • 10:43which is basically like an ultrasound
  • 10:45of your head where you can look at the
  • 10:47blood vessels and make sure you're
  • 10:49not at risk for having a stroke.
  • 10:51We always make sure that our patients
  • 10:54have their eyes checked because
  • 10:56sometimes in sickle cell disease
  • 10:58you can have vision changes and a
  • 11:00regular follow up with a hematologist
  • 11:02can help you notice any changes
  • 11:05before they cause problems.
  • 11:07One of the biggest things and one
  • 11:09of the things we know works and
  • 11:11helps prolong life
  • 11:11in sickle cell patients is a use of
  • 11:14a medication called Hydroxyurea.
  • 11:16Now, some of your listeners may be familiar,
  • 11:18because sometimes this can be used in
  • 11:21patients who have certain cancer diagnosis,
  • 11:24but in sickle cell disease,
  • 11:26the dose that we use is much lower and the
  • 11:29way that we use it as a bit different.
  • 11:31And we know that it kind of helps
  • 11:33you have more juicy fat
  • 11:35cells then bananas and so your body
  • 11:38overall does better in the long term.
  • 11:41So just to follow up on a few
  • 11:44things that you just said.
  • 11:45First off taking that last
  • 11:48comment about Hydroxyurea making
  • 11:50You have more fat and juicy like
  • 11:52blood cells rather than sickling bananas,
  • 11:55is it true that if you
  • 11:57have sickle cell disease,
  • 11:59not all of your blood cells are
  • 12:01bananas and it is possible to
  • 12:03increase the number of Jelly doughnut
  • 12:05blood cells that you have instead
  • 12:08of bananas?
  • 12:11Absolutely, and that is up until
  • 12:14recently, the only FDA
  • 12:16approved medication that we have had
  • 12:18for our patients is Hydroxyurea
  • 12:20to increase the amount of non sickle cells,
  • 12:23Jelly doughnut cells and ensure that
  • 12:25you're pain complications are lower
  • 12:28and that your organs can really get
  • 12:30the oxygen they need to thrive.
  • 12:33So an obvious question is why
  • 12:35not use more and make
  • 12:37all of your blood cells Jelly Donuts?
  • 12:39But hold that thought.
  • 12:41Because first we need to take a short
  • 12:44break for medical minute. Stay tuned
  • 12:46to learn more about adolescents and
  • 12:48young adults with sickle cell disease
  • 12:50with my guest doctor CeCe Calhoun.
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  • 14:13listening to Connecticut
  • 14:14Public Radio.
  • 14:15Welcome back to Yale Cancer Answers.
  • 14:17This is Doctor Anees Chagpar and I'm
  • 14:20joined tonight by my guest Dr. Cece Calhoun.
  • 14:23We're talking about the care of adolescents
  • 14:25and young adults with sickle cell
  • 14:27disease and bright before the break
  • 14:29CeCe was mentioning that while sickle cell
  • 14:33disease is completely
  • 14:35irreversible,
  • 14:38that actually using a drug called
  • 14:40Hydroxyurea can help your body to
  • 14:43create more of these quote juicy
  • 14:46cells which are normal red blood cells
  • 14:49and less of these quote banana like
  • 14:52cells which are the sickle cells.
  • 14:54So my question to you was.
  • 14:57before we had the break, is why
  • 15:01not just give more Hydroxyurea?
  • 15:04I mean if it helps your body to produce
  • 15:07more normal cells and less sickle cells,
  • 15:09wouldn't that be a way to kind
  • 15:11of reverse it?
  • 15:14I would love if it could be
  • 15:16totally reversed by Hydroxyurea
  • 15:18but we know that when our
  • 15:20patients are awesome, take their
  • 15:22medications every day as prescribed,
  • 15:24there's still an upper limit to
  • 15:26how many of those juicy fat
  • 15:29cells they can replace.
  • 15:31They can produce to replace the banana cells,
  • 15:34so there's a threshold of how
  • 15:37effective the drug can be,
  • 15:39but it can really,
  • 15:40really help enough to help
  • 15:42your organs stay healthy.
  • 15:44So this Hydroxyurea is something
  • 15:46that you're taking every day?
  • 15:48For your whole life?
  • 15:50And the other thing
  • 15:53that you mentioned before the break
  • 15:56and I wanted to pick up on as well
  • 15:59was this concept of pain and the fact
  • 16:02that many of these patients they present
  • 16:05with pain and they have pain every day
  • 16:08which impairs their ability to
  • 16:12concentrate at school or maybe place
  • 16:15boards so what do you do about that?
  • 16:19I mean, are these patients
  • 16:21treated with daily painkillers?
  • 16:22Or do you tell them to simply
  • 16:24wait until they have pain and
  • 16:27then prescribe pain medication?
  • 16:29I mean how do they get through their day
  • 16:31to day life if they're in pain everyday?
  • 16:35Yeah, so sickle cell patients are warriors
  • 16:38and you'll often see that described because
  • 16:42despite having pain of variable severity,
  • 16:45they managed to live life and be productive.
  • 16:48That's one of the most awesome things
  • 16:50about working with sickle cell patients.
  • 16:53So in terms of pain prevention,
  • 16:55what can we do?
  • 16:56Number one Hydroxyurea and get more juicy
  • 16:59cells around so you have less pain.
  • 17:01And recently there are a couple
  • 17:03of medications on the market
  • 17:05that help with pain prevention.
  • 17:08Also just keeping yourself well hydrated.
  • 17:11My patients are so wonderful in
  • 17:12that they often know their bodies.
  • 17:14They know their triggers.
  • 17:16And what situations make their pain worse.
  • 17:18And what kind of things can
  • 17:19make their pain better.
  • 17:20So really being attuned to those things
  • 17:23in terms of addressing pain acutely
  • 17:25when it happens and it's not planned,
  • 17:28we have a couple of things in our toolkit.
  • 17:32Yes, pain medication is something
  • 17:34that we give frequently for pain,
  • 17:37but we can also use red
  • 17:39blood cell transfusions if we need to.
  • 17:41If somebody is having pain often,
  • 17:43but many times we can't predict
  • 17:46when the pain will come,
  • 17:47or how severe it will be,
  • 17:49and so because of that our patients
  • 17:51have to get care in the ED sometimes
  • 17:53to get treatment for their pain.
  • 17:56You mentioned something
  • 17:57that I found kind of intriguing.
  • 17:59You said that we have medications
  • 18:01for pain prevention, like what?
  • 18:04Hot off the press I know,
  • 18:07so recently there's been
  • 18:10an FDA approved medication,
  • 18:12Adakveo or crizanlizumab
  • 18:16but I try not to say
  • 18:19that because crizanlizumab,
  • 18:21but that can be used to prevent pain
  • 18:24as an infusion given once monthly.
  • 18:32And another medication that's recently been
  • 18:34approved is something called Oxbryta
  • 18:36and really, what that does is increase
  • 18:39patients with sickle cell disease,
  • 18:41their hemoglobin,
  • 18:42and so the thought is if their
  • 18:45hemoglobin is better they
  • 18:47may in turn have less pain,
  • 18:49but the primary medication that
  • 18:52is out there for pain
  • 18:55prevention is Adakveo.
  • 18:57That sounds like a
  • 18:59pretty good deal, right?
  • 19:01If instead of having pain everyday,
  • 19:03if you had an infusion once a month,
  • 19:05does that infusion kind of really get
  • 19:07rid of the chances of having pain?
  • 19:09Or not really?
  • 19:12I think that the medication is pretty
  • 19:15new and patients themselves are
  • 19:18are individuals,
  • 19:19and so I've had some patients
  • 19:21who it's worked great for.
  • 19:22I've had some patients that we
  • 19:23just have to try other things.
  • 19:25I think the wonderful thing
  • 19:27about being a physician
  • 19:29scientist and sickle cell,
  • 19:30or even being a patient right now
  • 19:32who has sickle cell is that it is
  • 19:34such a fertile time for discovery.
  • 19:36In terms of sickle cell disease,
  • 19:38how to prevent complications
  • 19:39and how to cure it.
  • 19:41So you just have to work with
  • 19:43your hematologist to find
  • 19:44the right regimen for you.
  • 19:46So I want to pick up on
  • 19:48that discovery and some of the
  • 19:51new advances that are going on
  • 19:53in terms of sickle cell research.
  • 19:54But before that I had one other question
  • 19:57about the complications
  • 19:59you had mentioned before the break.
  • 20:01One of the impetuses for you to
  • 20:04become a pediatric climatologist
  • 20:06was an 8 year old who had a stroke,
  • 20:09which just I mean is heartbreaking to me.
  • 20:12But clearly if you think about these
  • 20:15sickle cells, it makes sense, right?
  • 20:17These sickle cells kind of glom
  • 20:19together and they cut off blood
  • 20:20supply to a part of your brain
  • 20:22that's called the stroke.
  • 20:23Now when we think about
  • 20:25older patients who
  • 20:27may be at risk of stroke or who may
  • 20:29be at risk of heart attack or who
  • 20:31may be at risk of other clotting,
  • 20:33whether it's in their lungs or
  • 20:35in their legs or whatever,
  • 20:37we often use blood thinners,
  • 20:40so are sickle cell patients put
  • 20:42on blood thinners to
  • 20:44prevent these complications?
  • 20:45Since we know that they're
  • 20:47at risk of getting clots.
  • 20:48So the blockages that occur in sickle
  • 20:51cell disease are a little bit different
  • 20:54than your normal blood clot, which is
  • 20:57caused by a different series of events,
  • 21:00and so for patients with sickle cell disease,
  • 21:02though they are at an increased
  • 21:04risk to have those
  • 21:05traditionally, what we think of blood clots,
  • 21:07we don't put them on blood thinners
  • 21:09to try to prevent complications
  • 21:11with sickle cell disease.
  • 21:13We know those blockages can be stuck
  • 21:15like a clot, or they can be transient,
  • 21:17they come and go because of the
  • 21:18cells sticking together.
  • 21:19It's not like the other proteins in
  • 21:21your body are swimming over there,
  • 21:23making a huge clot.
  • 21:24What we do in our young people
  • 21:27to maximize stroke prevention
  • 21:28is we do screenings like the
  • 21:30Transcranial Doppler I mentioned.
  • 21:32And if we notice any kind
  • 21:34of abnormality at all,
  • 21:36we have a couple of options.
  • 21:38One we can start them on chronic
  • 21:41transfusion to decrease the
  • 21:43amount of sickle cells circulating in their
  • 21:46blood and give them more normal cells.
  • 21:48Or if somebody has been
  • 21:50on transfusions,
  • 21:52their transcranial dopplers looks fine,
  • 21:54we can switch them to again Hydroxyurea
  • 21:57put more Jelly Donuts around,
  • 21:59have less sickle cells,
  • 22:01decrease the risk of complications,
  • 22:03and that's again why it's important
  • 22:05to connect with your
  • 22:06friendly hematologist so we
  • 22:07can help you on that journey.
  • 22:09Yeah, but presumably you would have
  • 22:11already been on the Hydroxyurea
  • 22:13so if that transcranial Doppler finds
  • 22:16that you're at increased risk
  • 22:20I guess the transfusion
  • 22:22is your only alternative,
  • 22:23but the issue there is if you keep
  • 22:26getting transfusions on a regular basis,
  • 22:29doesn't that increase your risk of
  • 22:32transfusion reactions and potentially
  • 22:33ultimately developing antibodies such
  • 22:35that there are fewer and fewer blood
  • 22:38types that you can actually take?
  • 22:42Absolutely.
  • 22:44For patients who have chronic transfusions,
  • 22:47they're a variety of risks that
  • 22:49come along with that.
  • 22:50There's obviously a clear benefit
  • 22:52in that it keeps you safe
  • 22:53and protects you against stroke
  • 22:55and may decrease your pain.
  • 22:56But you're absolutely right,
  • 22:57our bodies recognize
  • 22:59things that aren't foreign,
  • 23:00and that's why we really work in tandem
  • 23:03and together with our transfusion
  • 23:05medicine colleagues to do extended
  • 23:07typing in patients with sickle cell
  • 23:09disease to prevent that risk of
  • 23:11developing antibodies.
  • 23:14Another big risk is something
  • 23:16called iron overload,
  • 23:17where excess iron from the blood deposits
  • 23:20in different organs like your liver,
  • 23:22your heart, or your eyes.
  • 23:24So we measure that regularly and again,
  • 23:26medicine is so cool because we're
  • 23:29always ideally moving forward and
  • 23:31there's also a procedure
  • 23:34called Erythrocytosis
  • 23:35which I don't too much mind
  • 23:37saying five times fast,
  • 23:38but I like it, which can help
  • 23:40decrease that risk of iron overload.
  • 23:49Let's talk a little bit
  • 23:51about some of the exciting advances
  • 23:53in terms of sickle cell disease.
  • 23:55Tell us about what you think are the
  • 23:57most exciting things that are on the
  • 23:59forefront that you think are really going
  • 24:00to make a difference for your patients.
  • 24:03I think there are a lot of
  • 24:06medications in the works to address pain
  • 24:10and complications of sickle cell disease.
  • 24:13But one of the things I think that is
  • 24:16most exciting is the idea of a cure
  • 24:20through gene therapy,
  • 24:22and that's pretty awesome.
  • 24:24There's been some media, the
  • 24:30New York Times has published about it
  • 24:32and the Washington Post as
  • 24:34well about how we can use different
  • 24:37scientific technologies like CRISPR
  • 24:39technology or use different vectors
  • 24:41like viral vectors to take somebody's
  • 24:44stem cells and correct that defect
  • 24:46in their DNA that caused them to
  • 24:49be making sickle cells and then
  • 24:52give it back to them in a safe way,
  • 24:54and then when those new and
  • 24:56improved cells from their bodies
  • 24:58replicate
  • 24:59they are no longer affected
  • 25:01by sickle cell disease.
  • 25:02They may still make some sickle cells,
  • 25:05but will effectively be cured or
  • 25:06be like somebody who just has the
  • 25:09trait and that's one of the things
  • 25:10I think that's most exciting.
  • 25:12The possibility of a cure
  • 25:13in our future.
  • 25:18And is that 10-15, 30-50 years from now?
  • 25:21No, the time is totally now,
  • 25:24so there are clinical,
  • 25:25active clinical trials going on
  • 25:28to better understand the safety
  • 25:30and efficacy of this process
  • 25:32for patients and so
  • 25:34that's happening now.
  • 25:36Wow, that's
  • 25:39super exciting. What else is going on?
  • 25:42So I think the other main things are
  • 25:45the development of oral medications
  • 25:47to improve pain and to decrease
  • 25:50complications from sickle cell disease.
  • 25:52That one medication,
  • 25:53Adakveo, the way that it works,
  • 25:56it's something called
  • 25:58a B selection inhibitor.
  • 25:59And so they're more medications
  • 26:01coming around that look at that.
  • 26:03And there's some additional
  • 26:07oral medications coming that target
  • 26:10different mechanisms and other blood
  • 26:12problems like thalassemia and
  • 26:14they want to see if those medications
  • 26:17can work well in
  • 26:18patients with sickle cell disease.
  • 26:20So I think that fact that we are shining
  • 26:22a light on this community of people
  • 26:25with sickle cell disease and that we as
  • 26:27a scientific community have committed
  • 26:29to making their quality of life better,
  • 26:31that's the thing that's most exciting to me,
  • 26:34because oftentimes I think my
  • 26:36patients feel unseen and unheard,
  • 26:38and so it's great to see so many people,
  • 26:43brilliant people standing up for them
  • 26:44and helping to make their lives better.
  • 26:46That's awesome.
  • 26:47I guess the last question that I have is
  • 26:50really with regards to clinical trials.
  • 26:52I mean, it sounds like there's so
  • 26:56many great things on the horizon.
  • 26:58Do you find that young people
  • 27:01adolescents are interested in clinical
  • 27:04trials and willing to participate?
  • 27:08Are there barriers to participation?
  • 27:10How has that been going along?
  • 27:13Yeah, so anybody who has lived
  • 27:15with sickle cell or chronic pain,
  • 27:17I think is enthusiastic about
  • 27:19finding a way to have a better
  • 27:21life and to come have a better
  • 27:23quality of life and to find a cure.
  • 27:26When it comes to clinical trials,
  • 27:28there's a careful balance
  • 27:32between understanding clinical
  • 27:34studies and not wanting to feel like
  • 27:36an experiment and understanding
  • 27:38how the medical system can wrap
  • 27:40around you to keep you safe.
  • 27:42As we understand more about
  • 27:44how to help you have a cure.
  • 27:47And so when I think about
  • 27:49my young people,
  • 27:50are they interested in clinical trials?
  • 27:52I think that they have a lot of excellent
  • 27:55questions about the benefits and
  • 27:57risks of participating in clinical trials.
  • 28:00But many of them ultimately,
  • 28:01when we sit and talk and take the time,
  • 28:04they understand that it is their
  • 28:06contribution to not only their health,
  • 28:08but the community of sickle cell patients.
  • 28:10And that's the beauty of having providers
  • 28:12that have known you through the lifespan.
  • 28:14You have a relationship.
  • 28:15They know that I care for them.
  • 28:17They can trust me.
  • 28:18And so when I offer them this option,
  • 28:23then there's a little bit
  • 28:25more willingness to enroll.
  • 28:27Dr Cece Calhoun is an assistant
  • 28:29professor of medicine in hematology
  • 28:31and assistant professor of
  • 28:33Pediatrics in hematology,
  • 28:34oncology at the Yale School of Medicine.
  • 28:37If you have questions,
  • 28:38the address is canceranswers@yale.edu
  • 28:40and past editions of
  • 28:42the program are available in audio and
  • 28:45written form at yalecancercenter.org.
  • 28:48We hope you'll join us next week to
  • 28:50learn more about the fight against
  • 28:52cancer here on Connecticut Public
  • 28:54radio funding for Yale Cancer
  • 28:56Answers is provided by Smilow
  • 28:57Cancer Hospital and Astra Zeneca.