Multiple Myeloma

The most-read articles from the 2023 European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Meeting covered the most up-to-date treatment strategies for hematological malignancies, racial disparities in treatment patterns for blood cancers, and updates on immunotherapy as a tool in hematologic oncology.

Regeneron officials say they are on track to file for FDA approval for the bispecific antibody by the end of 2023.

Real-world data presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition showed similar toxicity profiles and outcomes among older and younger patients with multiple myeloma (MM) treated with teclistamab.

Our top multiple myeloma (MM) content this year included research suggesting many patients still face poor prognoses despite advances, a case study of unique MM presentation, and research presented at the 2022 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

Dose modifications of talquetamab improved on-target adverse effects while maintaining responses for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

The results indicated that a substantial proportion of patients, particularly in rural, less educated, and elderly demographics, are insufficiently informed about novel MM treatments, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies and bispecific antibody alternatives.

A real-world analysis found that patients with acute coronary syndrome who were also diagnosed with a hematologic malignancy had worse survival outcomes, and patients with multiple myeloma were overrepresented in the population.

A real-world study suggests high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is feasible for appropriately selected elderly patients, with similar results seen in older and younger patients.

Second-line treatment with belantamab mafodotin plus bortezomib/dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma is supported by findings from the phase 3 DREAMM-7 study.

A cohort study of 65 clinical trials in multiple myeloma found that toxic effects are often described with subjective terminology that may not reflect adverse event rates reported in the studies.

The study findings provide the first in-depth look at the relationship between chromosomal changes in tumor cells and immune components of the tumor microenvironment.

The findings suggest the presence of CHIP before HCT may have potential to serve as a biomarker for CVD risk after HCT in patients with multiple myeloma.

While response and safety may vary across racial and ethnic subgroups, progression-free survival and overall survival does not appear to differ when chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is used in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

Investigators found that myeloma cells may lose or change targets and subsequently go undetected by these therapies, suggesting that screening for such changes regularly could help guide treatment.

A study of patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma who received ixazomib-based therapy in real-world settings found the treatment effective and tolerable in clinical practice.

Patients with multiple myeloma exhibiting poor prognostic features, such as high-risk cytogenetics, soft-tissue plasmacytoma, ISS stage III disease, and triple-class exposure, experienced significant progression-free survival benefit with ciltacabtagene autoleucel.

Researchers identified an optimal early relapse time point to incorporate into traditional risk features and formed a novel prognostic classification utilizing both static and dynamic risk.

A recent study suggests that more intensive triplet therapy is more effective than less intensive doublet therapy in frail patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM), and that more intensive treatment may even improve frailty itself.

BCMA and GPRC5D loss in patients with multiple myeloma may lead to resistance to continuous treatment with anti–BCMA and anti–GPRC5D agents.

A recent study suggests that a patient’s immune microenvironment plays a key role in the depth and duration of response to multiple myeloma treatment.

Exercises such as resistance training and walking were safe and effective interventions that were associated with improved frailty scores and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in patients with multiple myeloma receiving systemic treatment.

Bispecific antibodies may be more broadly applicable as treatment for patients with multiple myeloma in the short-term, according to Ajai Chari, MD.

In a real-world study using data from patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma between 2009 and 2021, second primary malignancies adversely impacted survival outcomes in the modern era of therapeutics.

The combination therapy is the first FDA approved for the mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells prior to autologous transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma.