UAB Leads Recruitment for Novel Clinical Trial in Multiple Myeloma
Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Hematology and Oncology are currently recruiting patients for a phase II clinical trial—Monoclonal Antibody Sequential Therapy for Deep Remission in Multiple Myeloma (MASTER)—with an innovative treatment plan. In addition to UAB’s study leadership, other centers recruiting for this trial are Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Duke University, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, and Oregon Health and Science University.
The clinical trial utilizes next-generation sequencing technology to detect minimal residual disease down to a level of 1 cancer cell in 100,000—or 100- to 1,000-fold more sensitive than traditional methods to evaluate response. The enrollment goal is 82 patients; those in the trial will be treated with a combination of antimyeloma agents and immunotherapy, including carfilzomib and the monoclonal antibody daratumumab.
This is one of the first trials in multiple myeloma to use minimal residual disease as a primary endpoint and reportedly the first one to modify therapy based on achievement of minimal residual disease eradication. More than improving the results of initial treatment, the MASTER study will treat patients for the necessary time to confirm elimination of minimal residual disease and then discontinue therapy. Patients will be monitored for relapse at the molecular level, before disease becomes symptomatic again.
According to UAB scientist Luciano Costa, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the MASTER trial, patients want a treatment that eliminates their disease without having to be on therapy for the rest of their lives. “It is a bold move, but bold moves are what our patients deserve,” Dr. Costa stated in UAB News.
