Emotion and Symptom-Focused Engagement Trial for Individuals With Acute Leukemia

The standard or usual care treatment for patients with newly diagnosed acute leukemia involves admission to hospital for treatment (e.g. induction chemotherapy). Additional support services may be delivered if requested or if a doctor thinks it is necessary.

Little research has been done looking at the psychological and physical consequences of being diagnosed with and treated for acute leukemia, but our research team has found that a significant number of these individuals experience symptoms of traumatic stress and severe physical symptoms. Even less research has been done looking at ways to help alleviate this psychological and physical distress. Emotion and Symptom-focused Engagement (EASE) is an integrated psychosocial and early palliative care (symptom control) intervention designed to reduce psychological distress and physical symptom burden in patients newly diagnosed with acute leukemia. The EASE intervention provides i) tailored supportive psychotherapy (called EASE-psy) during the initial weeks of treatment to reduce symptoms of traumatic stress, and ii) symptom screening during the initial inpatient treatment period with triggered referral to early palliative care (symptom control) to help manage moderate to severe physical symptoms (called EASE-phys).

A phase II trial of EASE in patients with newly diagnosed acute leukemia demonstrated feasibility and preliminary evidence that it reduces psychological distress and physical symptom severity compared to usual care. This new trial is a definitive phase III, multi-site randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of EASE at reducing psychological distress and physical burden.

Inclusion criteria

• Newly diagnosed AL (acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis; T-cell leukemia lymphoma (TLL), and AL of ambiguous lineage) and is recruited up to 1 week prior to hospital admission or within 2 weeks of hospital admission. For patients diagnosed with a mixed phenotype AL, the dominant sub-type must be identified for stratification purposes.
• Receiving or expected to receive induction therapy with curative intent at the time of recruitment.
• Age ≥ 18 years.
• Ability to pass the cognitive screening test at the time of recruitment (Short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test (SOMC) score ≥ 20), unless deemed suitable at the CRA's discretion (e.g. in extenuating circumstances such as interruptions during the administration of the measure or when patients report a learning disability that can influence the results).
• Patient is fluent in English and is able (i.e. sufficiently literate and competent) and willing to complete the baseline questionnaires in English. Ability but unwillingness to complete the baseline questionnaires will make the patient ineligible.

Exclusion criteria

• Major communication difficulties at the time of recruitment, as assessed by the research team (e.g. severe hearing impairment or inability to speak).
• Receiving on-site (in hospital) psychological/psychiatric counseling at the time of recruitment.
• Receiving on-site (in hospital) palliative care services at the time of recruitment.
• A diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia.