EMMA Vienna 2017 | Triple combination therapies for multiple myeloma (MM) patients

Heinz Ludwig, MD of the Wilhelminen Cancer Research Institute, Vienna, Austria chairs a discussion on immunotherapies for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) at the EMMA 2017 meeting in Vienna, Austria. His discussion partner, Niels van de Donk, MD, PhD, of the University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands starts the discussion by highlighting different types of immunotherapies that are currently available. One of these is elotuzumab, an agent used as second line or third line therapy, which must be combined with other agents to be effective. The other antibody approved, daratumumab, is currently used a single agent, waiting to be approved to be used in combination with other agents. Daratumumab as a triplet therapy will revolutionize myeloma therapy and will be a preferred treatment option for many patients. Dr. van de Donk explains that PFS and MRD rate, which are known to be very important predictors of survival, are significantly higher in triple combination than in double combination. Ludwig and van de Donk then discuss how long a patient must be on treatment for. Referring to the Gustuv study, it is not known what is the best time of treatment with daratumumab. Van de Donk explains that many more studies and trials will be needed in order to answer the questions of maintenance and duration of maintenance. They also discuss that in high-risk cytogenetic patients, the only study which has shown triple combination therapy to be effective was in the tourmaline study. Here, there were similar results in high-risk patient groups compared to the standard risk group.
Recorded at the 2017 European Multiple Myeloma Academy (EMMA) in Vienna, Austria.
This program was sponsored by Celgene through an unrestricted educational grant to Video Journal of Hematological Oncology.