Dr. Shah on the Future of CAR T-Cell Therapy in Multiple Myeloma

Nina Shah, MD, associate professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the future of CAR T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma. 

In July 2020, a biologics license application was resubmitted to the FDA for the BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; bb2121) for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. 

To date, most clinical trials evaluating CAR T-cell therapy have included patients who have heavily pretreated, relapsed/refractory disease, explains Shah. However, inclusion criteria ​typically require ​patients to have had 3 ​prior lines of treatment ​and have progressing disease.

​Although investigational agents in the pipeline could lead to ​novel combination regimens in the near future​, enrollment in clinical trials remains a critical option for patients, Shah concludes.