Dr. Shah on BCMA-Directed CAR T-Cell Therapy Research in R/R Multiple Myeloma

Nina Shah, MD, a hematologist and associate professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses ​ongoing research with BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; bb2121) and JNJ-4528 are similar in the way they target BCMA and intracellularly signal 4-1BB, Shah explains. This could be very beneficial to patients with multiple myeloma as BCMA is uniformly expressed on ​myeloma plasma cells.

However, these products differ in terms of structure​, Shah adds. For example, the BCMA-directed component of ide-cel attaches to 2 different parts of the target.

Notably, recent findings suggest that ​even patients ​with low levels of BCMA can respond to BCMA-directed CAR T-cell therapy, Shah concludes.