Continuous therapy has been a key aspect of the standard of care approaches for the treatment of multiple myeloma for many years, prolonging disease control and improving progression-free survival in comparison to fixed-duration approaches; however, it is now being discussed whether treatment-free interval strategies could be incorporated into the treatment paradigm. Evidence from the IFM/DFCI2009 (NCT01191060) study has suggested that patients with myeloma who achieve measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity have good outcomes without continuous treatment, and similar findings have been reported in part 2 of the Phase III Cassiopeia (NCT02541383) trial. Despite this, potential surrogate markers, such as MRD, still require validation in order to determine patient eligibility for management strategies involving treatment-free intervals in multiple myeloma.

In this podcast, Phil McCarthy, MD, of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, and Luciano Costa, MD, PhD, of the UAB School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, discuss the evidence for and against treatment-free intervals in the treatment of multiple myeloma, as debated at the 18th International Myeloma Workshop (IMW 2021).