ASCO: Cilta-Cel Beneficial for Lenalidomide-Refractory Multiple Myeloma

THURSDAY, June 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma, a single cilta-cel infusion results in lower risk of disease progression or death compared with standard care, according to a study published online June 5 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from June 2 to 6 in Chicago.

Jesús San-Miguel, M.D., Ph.D., from the Cancer Center Clínica Universidad de Navarra in Spain, and colleagues conducted a phase 3 randomized trial involving patients with lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma who had received one to three previous lines of treatment. A total of 419 patients were randomly assigned to cilta-cel or standard care (208 and 211, respectively).

The researchers found that the median progression-free survival was not reached in the cilta-cel group and was 11.8 months in the standard care-group at a median follow-up of 15.9 months (hazard ratio, 0.26). At 12 months, progression-free survival was 75.9 and 48.6 percent in the cilta-cel and standard-care groups, respectively. Compared with patients in the standard-care group, more patients in the cilta-cel group had an overall response (84.6 versus 67.3 percent), a complete response or better (73.1 versus 21.8 percent), and an absence of minimal residual disease (60.6 versus 15.6 percent).

"The strong progression-free survival benefit and rapid and deep response with cilta-cel highlight the potential for cilta-cel to become a therapeutic option for patients with myeloma after the first relapse," the authors write.

The study was funded by Janssen Research and Development and Legend Biotech USA.

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