Dr. Davies on Research Efforts in Lenalidomide-Refractory Myeloma

Faith E. Davies, MD, a professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Clinical Myeloma Program at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses the research being done in patients with multiple myeloma who are refractory to lenalidomide (Revlimid).

One of the difficult areas in multiple myeloma is determining what to do with patients who are refractory to lenalidomide, says Davies. Patients with relapsed/refractory disease usually receive maintenance lenalidomide and many of the options available for first relapse contain lenalidomide. One option would be to increase the dose of lenalidomide from 10 mg to 25 mg. Three studies have taken a slightly different approach, adds Davies.

The phase 3 ICARIA-MM study used isatuximab-irfc (Sarclisa) in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone in patients who were lenalidomide-refractory. This study showed that the triplet resulted in a greater than 40% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death versus pomalidomide and dexamethasone alone in patients with relapsed/refractory disease, concludes Davies.