SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 6, 2023 / Napo Pharmaceuticals (Napo), a Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) family company, today announced that the abstract for "More Than a Diagnosis: A Quality of Life Survey for Individuals with a Diagnosis or History of Cancer," an online, anonymous Napo-supported survey initiative of Advocates for Collaborative Education (ACE) to shed light on the diverse and profound challenges faced by individuals living with a diagnosis or a history of cancer, is now available on the website for the December 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). The complete set of abstracts submitted to SABCS 2023 can be viewed by clicking here.
"While cancer treatments have advanced considerably since the advent and availability of targeted therapies, significant short- and long-term treatment side effects can be challenging or even devastating to an individual's quality of life (QoL)," said Advocates for Collaborative Education founder Stacey Tinianov, MPH, a member of the Jaguar/Napo Scientific Advisory Board. "Management of treatment side effects is integral to supportive care. The collaboration with patients and survivors in developing this survey represents a pivotal step in determining areas that demand attention for improving QoL and offers valuable insights aimed at enhancing the well-being of individuals affected by cancer and additional research will pursue collaborative solutions. I look forward to the poster presentation of the breast cancer-related results of the survey on December 7th at SABCS."
Across a wide range of demographic subsets, including age, race, stage of cancer, and treatment modalities, 334 survey respondents with a history of breast cancer reported a decline in QoL scores precancer versus post-cancer. Physical and emotional well-being emerged as top priorities for most respondents, 47.9% and 27.5% respectively. Of 17 listed side effects, respondents cited fatigue (49%), muscle/joint pain (36%), and emotional distress (35%) as primary concerns, with sexual dysfunction and cognitive impairment ranking prominently. Forty-six percent reported severe to very severe emotional distress, but only 55% of those felt informed or well informed about the possibility of emotional distress. Among respondents, only 41% received a plan to address emotional distress.
Many respondents felt unprepared for physical side effects. While 54% of individuals experienced diarrhea or fecal incontinence as a treatment side effect, 22% of affected individuals did not feel informed about the possibility of such side effects. Survey findings also highlight the consequences of treatments to manage side effects. Thirty-seven percent of respondents were prescribed treatment to address diarrhea and 100% of these patients reported additional side effects stemming from this supportive care, including nausea, constipation, and fatigue.
"A significant number of the abstracts submitted to SABCS 2023 refer to cancer therapies with 'manageable toxicities' and 'tolerable side effects,'" said Lisa Conte, Jaguar's president and CEO. "We acknowledge the rigors of both short-term and perpetual treatment and do not believe any cancer therapy-related side effect, whether it is extreme fatigue, debilitating diarrhea, chronic pain, or others, should ever be viewed as 'tolerable' or 'manageable.' When clinical studies refer to manageable toxicities, patients ask, 'manageable for whom?'"
Advocates for Collaborative Education, a global coalition of patient, community, research, and policy advocates, initiated an anonymous, online survey to assess Quality of Life (QoL) impacts of cancer diagnosis and treatment to inform research, clinical care, and the broader cancer community. Identifying what matters most to individuals can potentially guide improvements in supportive care to effectively address QoL impacts.
Jaguar's poster outlining the design of the company's pivotal Phase 3 OnTarget trial for cancer therapy-related diarrhea (CTD) and the neglected medical need of CTD will also be presented at SABCS on December 7th. The trial is evaluating the company's plant-based prescription drug crofelemer for prophylaxis of diarrhea in adult cancer patients with solid tumors receiving targeted therapy, with or without standard chemotherapy. The top line results of the study are forthcoming.
About the Jaguar Health Family of Companies
Jaguar Health, Inc. (Jaguar) is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel proprietary prescription medicines sustainably derived from plants from rainforest areas for people and animals with gastrointestinal distress, specifically associated with overactive bowel, which includes symptoms such as chronic debilitating diarrhea, urgency, and bowel incontinence. Jaguar family company Napo Pharmaceuticals focuses on developing and commercializing human prescription pharmaceuticals for essential supportive care and management of neglected gastrointestinal symptoms across multiple complicated disease states. Napo Pharmaceuticals' crofelemer drug product candidate is the subject of the OnTarget study, an ongoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for preventive treatment of chemotherapy-induced overactive bowel (CIOB) in adults with cancer on targeted therapy. Jaguar family company Napo Therapeutics is an Italian corporation Jaguar established in Milan, Italy in 2021 focused on expanding crofelemer access in Europe and specifically for orphan and/or rare diseases. Jaguar Animal Health is a Jaguar tradename. Magdalena Biosciences, a joint venture formed by Jaguar and Filament Health Corp. that emerged from Jaguar's Entheogen Therapeutics Initiative (ETI), is focused on developing novel prescription medicines derived from plants for mental health indications.
For more information about:
Jaguar Health, visit https://jaguar.health
Napo Pharmaceuticals, visit www.napopharma.com
Napo Therapeutics, visit napotherapeutics.com
Magdalena Biosciences, visit magdalenabiosciences.com
Visit Jaguar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jaguar-health/
Visit Jaguar on X: https://twitter.com/Jaguar_Health
Visit Jaguar on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaguarhealthcommunity/
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements." These include statements regarding the expectation that results of the quality of life study will be presented at SABCS on December 7, 2023, and the expectation that Napo's poster related to the OnTarget trial will be presented at SABCS on December 7, 2023. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "aim," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are only predictions. Jaguar has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and are subject to several risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond Jaguar's control. Except as required by applicable law, Jaguar does not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
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SOURCE: Jaguar Health, Inc.
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