Pfizer’s Global Oncology Leader Suneet Varma Says Patient Education For Earlier Screening & Disease Identification Is a Major Part of His Strategy

Increasing Screening Through Patient Education

• Efforts to improve cancer screening through awareness campaigns are having an impact, as a study published in JAMA indicates a “58% reduction in breast cancer mortality” thanks to better screening efforts.
• Suneet Varma, Global Oncology & U.S. President at Pfizer, tells SurvivorNet that the company aims to continue making progress by leveraging technology to better educate patients.
• Varma points to a program Pfizer launched a few years ago called ‘Living With Cancer,’ which helps answer general questions patients would otherwise wander the internet to seek answers to, such as access to financial resources and product information.

Turning more cancers into chronic conditions is a mission Suneet Varma, Global Oncology & U.S. President at Pfizer, and his company strive for daily. These ongoing efforts include improved patient education and early access to cancer screening, which Varma calls a “key success factor.” Pfizer is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies behind breakthrough treatments from the COVID-19 vaccine to more recent drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including Elrexfio (generic name: elranatamab), which offers hope for some patients with multiple myeloma whose cancer has returned after several rounds of treatment. Varma sat down with SurvivorNet to explain Pfizer’s goals of increasing screening through patient education.

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We know efforts to educate more women to screen for breast cancer appear to be paying off, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA earlier this year. Researchers say improvements in screening and treatment are associated with a “58% reduction in breast cancer mortality” for breast cancer since the 1970s. “Let's say that if you can identify a patient and get them on treatment at stage 1 or 2, literally the odds are three or four times better of success than if you catch them late in the cycle in stages 3 and 4,” Varma told SurvivorNet. “Our ability to make sure that we are out there commercially and medically with the latest information on how to use the product, and we're making sure that patients are getting the screenings they need and are aware of is a critical success factor,” Varma continued.

Connecting With Patients Where They Are

Technology has changed the way we communicate, which is often digital-first. Among patients, going online to help make sense of their diagnosis, symptoms, and potential treatments is common practice, but not all information on the internet is reliable. Varma says Pfizer sees this as an opportunity to impact education, awareness, product information, financial resources, and more. “At Pfizer, we have something called, ‘Living with Cancer.’ It is an unbranded website we launched about six, seven years ago,” Varma explains. “It's all about, ‘How do I grapple with the journey I'm about to go through? How can I get educated? How can I get access to affordability? How can I get connected with patient advocacy groups so I can talk to like-minded people going through the journey that I'm going through?’” Varma added.