Myeloma Canada, along with thousands from the global hematology community, had the privilege of attending the 64^th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition (December 10-13, 2022) to hear from leading myeloma experts about the latest progress in myeloma research.

 

The main focus of the myeloma research presented was on bispecific antibody treatments (e.g., teclistamab, elranatamab, talquetamab, Abbv-383, REGN5458, RG6234, cevostamab, alnuctamab), as well as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies (e.g., Abecma, BMS-986393, GC012F, BMS-986354).

These immunotherapies show high disease responses in heavily pretreated patients, however side effects such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and low blood counts were consistent. Thus, researchers are also looking at how to prevent or limit such side effects. One study (abstract 567) showed that pre-treatment with a drug called tocilizumab can reduce the severity of CRS in patients who receive cevostamab. The results suggest that cevostamab may potentially be administered as an outpatient (patient not admitted to the hospital) or at community hospitals. Furthermore, the results may also be applicable to other immunotherapies.

 

Other research themes included:

• minimal residual disease (MRD) testing approaches to eliminate or reduce the need for bone marrow biopsy
• updates for patients evaluated to be frail (dexamethasone sparing approach) or have high-risk disease
• identifying and addressing racial disparities in the incidence of myeloma, survival from myeloma, and access to treatment and clinical trials
• other emerging treatments for relapsed/refractory myeloma (e.g., mezigdomide, modakafusp alfa).

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