Plasma Cell Neoplasms (Including Multiple Myeloma) Research

In a small clinical trial, nearly 40% of people with multiple myeloma who were treated with the immunotherapy drug teclistamab (Tecvayli) had all signs of their cancer disappear. The trial participants had myeloma that did not respond to or came back after three or more prior treatments.

People with advanced multiple myeloma now have another option for CAR T-cell therapy with the recent approval of ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Carvykti). Like the first approved CAR T-cell therapy, Carvykti targets the BCMA protein on myeloma cells.

People with blood cancers seem to be less protected by COVID-19 vaccines than those with other cancers and people without cancer, three new studies suggest. Experts believe this limited effectiveness is likely due to patients’ weakened immune systems.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved idecabtagene vicleucel (Abecma) for some people with multiple myeloma. The approval is based, in part, on a small study in which ide-cel partially or completely shrank tumors in 72% of patients.

A recent study quantified the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw for patients who take zoledronic acid to manage complications from cancer that has spread to the bone. The study also examined risk factors for osteonecrosis of the jaw in these patients.

Results from a new study suggest a potential way to improve the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapy for multiple myeloma. The approach relies on a class of drugs called gamma-secretase inhibitors (GSIs), several of which have been studied to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

A person’s risk of progressing from a benign condition called monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) to the blood cancer multiple myeloma can change over time, according to a new study.

The drug lenalidomide (Revlimid) may delay the progression of smoldering myeloma to multiple myeloma, according to preliminary results from a clinical trial.

Results from two early-phase trials presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting suggest that an immunotherapy using genetically engineered immune cells may be effective in patients with advanced multiple myeloma.

The FDA has approved lenalidomide for use as a maintenance therapy in patients with multiple myeloma who have undergone an autologous stem cell transplant, to help keep the cancer from coming back.

A phase III clinical trial demonstrates that adding the drug bortezomib to a commonly used two-drug regimen extends survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Results from a phase III trial showed that adding daratumumab to lenalidomide and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival among patients with relapsed or refractory disease, compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone.

A study suggests that individual tumor cells circulating in the blood of patients with multiple myeloma may be a new source of information about the genetic changes driving the disease.

The FDA has approved daratumumab, in combination with either of two other standard therapies, in patients with multiple myeloma whose disease has progressed after only a single prior treatment course.

In November 2015, the FDA approved three new therapies for patients with multiple myeloma.

The FDA has approved carfilzomib in combination with other anticancer drugs to treat patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.

Interim results from an international, randomized phase III trial suggest that adding carfilzomib (Kyprolis®) to a standard treatment improves outcomes for patients with multiple myeloma whose cancer has relapsed. Participants in the study who received carfilzomib plus lenalidomide (Revlimid®) and dexamethasone lived a median of 8.7 months longer without the disease getting worse than patients who received lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone.