New NCCN patient guide for Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia helps make informed treatment decisions

Feb 6 2017

A very rare sub-type of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia affects approximately 1,500 - 2,000 people in the United States each year. While it is not curable, Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia is slow growing, and in many patients, manageable as a chronic disease. To that end, it is important that patients diagnosed with Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia have access to up-to-date disease management information in order to work alongside their treatment teams to make informed care decisions.

To give patients access to the same treatment information their doctors use, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has published the NCCN Guidelines for Patients® and NCCN Quick Guide™ sheet for Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia/Lymphoplasmacytic Lymphoma. Provided through support from the NCCN Foundation®, these education resources inform patients and caregivers about available treatment options.

"The treatment approach to patients with Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia has significantly changed in the recent years with better understanding of the disease biology and its natural history and availability of new drugs, allowing for a more individualized approach. The revised guidelines reflect these changes and will be a valuable guide for patients in shared decision-making with their oncologists," said Shaji Kumar, MD, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Chair, NCCN Guidelines Panel for Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia.

These resources are accessible free of charge on NCCN.org/patients, as well as on the free NCCN Patient Guides for Cancer mobile app, available for Android and iOS devices.

NCCN Guidelines for Patients, patient-friendly adaptations of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), are easy-to-understand resources based on the same clinical practice guidelines used by health care professionals around the world to determine the best way to treat a patient with cancer. Each resource features unbiased expert guidance from the nation's leading cancer centers designed to help people living with cancer talk to their physicians about the best treatment options for their disease.

NCCN Guidelines for Patients and NCCN Quick Guide™ sheets—one-page summaries of key points in the patient guidelines—are written in plain language and include patient-friendly elements, such as questions to ask your doctor, a glossary of terms, and medical illustrations of anatomy, tests, and treatment. NCCN Guidelines for Patients and NCCN Quick Guide™ sheets DO NOT replace the expertise and clinical judgment of the clinician.