EHA 2019 | PROMISE Update: genomic alterations in MGUS and SMM
Irene Ghobrial, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, gives an update on the PROMISE study (NCT03689595) which aimed to determine the clinical and genomic alterations present in individuals with MGUS and SMM through screening those at high-risk due to family history or ethnicity. This interview took place at the 24th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2019, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Transcript (edited for clarity)
The PROMISE Study is the jewel for our trials. And again, we think that, for the first time we’re screening in the US, patients for multiple myeloma. And you think about screening tests for cancer is such an important thing because if we can identify them early, we could potentially prevent the disease from progressing. And we do so many screening studies that are much more invasive...
The PROMISE Study is the jewel for our trials. And again, we think that, for the first time we’re screening in the US, patients for multiple myeloma. And you think about screening tests for cancer is such an important thing because if we can identify them early, we could potentially prevent the disease from progressing. And we do so many screening studies that are much more invasive. Mammography, colonoscopy, yet I think a blood test is a simple thing that if you go to your doctor and you’re at risk of myeloma, it would be nice to know if you do have MGUS and not be found incidentally when you’re almost going to develop the disease.
So I think this is a study that for the first time is asking the question, “Can we identify in high risk population, the presence of Myeloma?” And these are people who are African American descent over the age of 45, or people who have a first degree relative of myeloma, or MGUS, or Waldenstrom, and they’re over the age of 45. And by selecting a high risk individual, we have a higher chance of actually finding that indeed they have MGUS or smoldering.
And that’s so important because if we can identify it early, one, potentially we can give them therapy to prevent the disease. But two, just knowing that information is so essential for them because there has been studies that show that if you know early on, potentially you can have a better survival because those patients are the ones who are treated a little bit earlier, and they don’t wait until they have all of the disease burden. So I think it’s such a critical study, it will collaborate with the Iceland study, so that in the future we do have, for the first time, screening for patients with multiple myeloma.
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