Multiple Myeloma

The addition of carfilzomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma led to a statistically significant 21% reduction in the risk for death compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone.

The B-cell maturation antigen antibody-drug conjugate GSK2857916 induced an overall response rate of 60% in heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma.

Maintenance therapy with elotuzumab (Empliciti) and lenalidomide (Revlimid) after autologous stem cell transplant improves the quality of response achieved with induction therapy in patients with multiple myeloma.

Daratumumab (Darzalex) displayed single-agent activity in intermediate- and high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma, according to results from the phase II CENTAURUS study.

The addition of daratumumab to bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone (VMP) reduced the risk of progression or death by 50% compared with VMP alone for transplant-ineligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Cristina Gasparetto, MD, associate professor, head of the myeloma program, Duke University Medical Center, discusses a phase 1b study to assess the combination of selinexor and daratumumab (Darzalex) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma previously exposed to proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting. Selinexor is an interesting new drug that inhibits Exportin 1 (XPO1), which reactivates some of the tumor suppressor proteins. In the phase 1b portion of the study, investigators aimed to identify the optimal dose of selinexor in combination with daratumumab. Gasparetto says the study included a small number of patients, but demonstrated very encouraging data.

A novel approach demonstrated durable responses in the treatment of patients with smoldering multiple myeloma, according to results from a single-arm, phase II trial.

Treatment with the BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy bb2121 induced complete remissions for 56% of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.