Dr. Thompson on Advancements in Treatments of Multiple Myeloma

Michael A. Thompson, MD, PhD, medical director, precision medicine, Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic, Aurora Health Care, discusses advancements of treatments for patients with multiple myeloma.

Michael A. Thompson, MD, PhD, medical director, precision medicine, Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic, Aurora Health Care, discusses advancements of treatments for patients with multiple myeloma.

In the field of multiple myeloma, many drugs received FDA approval in 2016. The next important steps are to discover effective ways to use those drugs, Thompson explains. One of the most promising drugs in the field of multiple myeloma is daratumumab (Darzalex). There is now more data looking at different populations of patients treated for longer lengths of time and it still appears beneficial.

Some researchers are looking at combinations of elotuzumab (Empliciti) with checkpoint inhibitors, Thompson says. Other noteworthy drugs in this field are ixazomib (Ninlaro), selinixor, and venetoclax (Venclexta).