How to approach shared decision making when determining consolidation, maintenance therapy, and transplantation in acute myeloid leukemia

Until recently, treatment options for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were limited to cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents that possessed little specificity for the cytogenetic and molecular mutations known to risk stratify patients with this disease. With the approval of multiple new therapies, not only have the agents that we treat patients with changed, but the way we talk about these options, decide on, and manage therapy has also been transformed. Given these complexities, it is important that we help patients make an informed decision by weighing the risk of relapse with patient wishes and desired quality of life. Shared decision making (SDM) is an approach to medical decision making for those situations in which most clinicians would agree that there is more than 1 correct choice for a patient. Here we review the principles of SDM and provide an overview of the 3-talk model and how it may be incorporated into the care of patients with AML.