Dr Zackon on Next Steps for Evaluating the Real-World Use of Bispecific Antibodies in R/R Myeloma

“The next iteration of this [analysis] will look much more deeply at those patients who got the bispecific antibodies and their safety experience. We can begin to look at outcomes and start to talk about how the real-world data compare [with] what we saw in prospective data.”

Ira Zackon, MD, hematologist, medical oncologist, New York Oncology Hematology; senior medical director, Ontada, discusses next steps for evaluating the real-world use of bispecific antibodies for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in the community oncology setting.

A retrospective observational real-world study investigated the use of bispecific antibodies in adult patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who had either started treatment with bispecific antibodies or had been previously been treated with at least 5 lines of therapy without such agents. Findings presented at the 2024 ASH Annual Meeting showed that 44.67% of evaluable patients (n = 253) received a bispecific antibody in 2023. Prior to the July 2024 cutoff date, 54.32% of patients treated in 2024 (n = 162) had received 1 of these agents.

The next phase of this research will expand on these findings by continuing the analysis over the next few years to better understand the evolving patterns of care associated with bispecific antibodies in a larger patient cohort, Zackon states. A key advancement in the study is the integration of both structured and unstructured data, he adds. The incorporation of unstructured data, such as visit notes and attached documents, has been enhanced using artificial intelligence technologies to convert it into a structured data format, validated by human abstractors for accuracy, Zackon expands.

Future iterations of this study will focus on a deeper analysis of patients treated with bispecific antibodies, examining their safety profiles and comparing real-world outcomes with those observed in prospective clinical trials, he says. This comparison will provide valuable insights into the real-world effectiveness and safety of bispecific antibodies in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, Zackon concludes.