Dr. Kambhampati on Updates in Myeloma from the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting

Suman Kambhampati, MD, co-medical director, Blood Cancer Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses updates in myeloma from the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The biggest unmet need in myeloma is how to treat patients who are refractory to lenalidomide (Revlimid), bortezomib (Velcade), or those who have penta-refractory disease. At the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, impressive data were presented on the anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy bb2121. Data showed that patients could achieve progression-free survival (PFS) of approximately 1 year. Additionally, almost all patients who were evaluable for minimal residual disease (MRD) achieved MRD-negativity, which translated into better PFS. These data underscore the importance of CAR T-cell therapy and immunotherapy in myeloma, says Kambhampati.

Additionally, many abstracts centered around dose and schedule alterations of already existing agents. For example, data on carfilzomib (Kyprolis) showed better results by changing the frequency of administration from twice a week to once a week with no added toxicity, states Kambhampati.