ASCO 2018: Novel Drug Combination Active in Relapsed Myeloma
Posted: Wednesday, June 20, 2018
A combination of daratumumab plus carfilzomib and dexamethasone may be effective in treating patients with multiple myeloma who do not respond to lenalidomide. This finding comes from a phase Ib trial subgroup analysis, presented by Ajai Chari, MD, of Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and colleagues, at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 8002). This patient population generally has poor outcomes, highlighting an unmet medical need.
A total of 85 carfilzomib-naive patients with up a median of 2 prior lines of therapy were enrolled in the MMY1001 trial, and 51 were refractory to lenalidomide. Patients were given carfilzomib on days 1, 8, and 15 of 28-day cycles. Daratumumab was given once a week during the first 2 cycles, every 2 weeks in cycles 3 to 4, and every 4 weeks following; dexamethasone was given once a week.
Twenty patients had to discontinue treatment due to progressive disease, adverse events, patient withdrawal, or physician decision, but most remaining patients (n = 53) in the study demonstrated very good partial responses. Response to treatment was observed in 86% of all patients and 81% of lenalidomide-refractory patients. At 12 months, the progression-free survival rate was 69%. The median progression-free survival was 14.1 months, at 8.3 months of median follow-up.
“The combination of daratumumab and weekly [carfilzomib and dexamethasone] was well tolerated and demonstrated promising efficacy,” the investigators reported.
