Dr. Morgan on Optimizing Treatment in Ultra High–Risk Multiple Myeloma

Gareth J. Morgan, MD, PhD, a professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and director of the Multiple Myeloma Research Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, discusses optimizing treatments for patients with ultra high–risk multiple myeloma.

Currently, there is no good standard treatment for patients with ultra high–risk disease that can be used as a comparative for randomized studies, Morgan says. As such, efforts should be made to define smaller clinical trials that examine different treatment protocols, link those trials, and then decide on the optimal treatment approach, according to Morgan. Additionally, a series of clinical trials should then be done to compare to the standard treatment, in order to see if therapy can be further optimized, Morgan explains.

This is feasible to accomplish due to the advent of T-cell–engaging therapies, such as bispecific antibodies or CAR T-cell therapies, which have made a significant difference, Morgan notes. Previously, autologous stem cell transplantation was one of the strongest treatments that a patient could receive, however, in the relapsed/refractory setting, T-cell engagers achieve better outcomes than those seen with autologous transplantation, Morgan concludes.