Dr. Costa on the Evolving Treatment Paradigm in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

Luciano J. Costa, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine in the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cell Therapy Program at the University of Alabama (UAB) Birmingham School of Medicine, and associate director for clinical research at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, discusses the evolving treatment paradigm in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

The relapsed/refractory setting of multiple myeloma tends to evolve rapidly because there is significant need to develop novel therapies, and the current standards of care don’t perform as well as those established in the frontline setting, says Costa. Although the newly diagnosed setting tends to evolve slowly, significant changes are likely to emerge in the paradigm, Costa adds.

Quadruplet therapy with a monoclonal antibody, a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory drug, and dexamethasone will likely be adopted as the standard of care treatment for transplant-eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, Costa explains. In the transplant-ineligible setting, some debate remains as to what the optimal standard will be, Costa says. A monoclonal antibody–based triplet or quadruplet regimen are good candidates, concludes Costa.