Dr Grajales-Cruz on Benefit With Teclistamab in Select Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Myeloma

Ariel Grajales-Cruz, MD, assistant member, Department of Malignant Hematology, Multiple Myeloma Section, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses disease factors and patient characteristics associated with benefit from teclistamab (Tecvayli) monotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to findings from a real-world analysis of heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who progressed on a prior BCMA-directed therapy.

The retrospective, single-center study evaluated the real-world efficacy of teclistamab, a standard-of-care therapy for heavily pretreated patients with multiple myeloma. The study compared the results from this real-world setting to those observed in the phase 1/2 MajesTEC-1 trial (NCT03145181; NCT04557098).

At the 2023 ASH Annual Meeting, results showed that real-world teclistamab produced an overall response rate of 63%, including a complete response rate of 36%. These response rates were comparable with those observed in patients from the MajesTEC-1 trial who were not previously exposed to BCMA therapy, highlighting the consistency of teclistamab's efficacy across different patient populations. No new safety signals were observed.

One of the key questions addressed by the study was whether any specific subgroups of patients experienced better outcomes with teclistamab, Grajales-Cruz begins. Interestingly, the study found that responses were not dependent on the type of regimens previously received, he says. This included prior treatment with BCMA-targeted therapy, including CAR T-cell therapy, antibody-drug conjugates, or other bispecific antibodies. Additionally, high-risk disease status was not found to be a predictor of response, Grajales-Cruz states. However, patients with a poorer ECOG performance status (PS) of 2 or more experienced worse outcomes and achieved a shorter median progression-free survival vs patients with an ECOG PS of 0 or 1, Grajales-Cruz explains.

Overall, findings support the consistent efficacy of teclistamab across different patient populations and indicate that ECOG PS should be considered when assessing potential treatment outcomes with teclistamab in this setting, Grajales-Cruz concludes.