Dr. Jagannath on Pomalidomide in Multiple Myeloma

Sundar Jagannath, MD, Director, Multiple Myeloma Program, The Tisch Cancer Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses the use of pomalidomide (POM) in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

In a phase II trial, patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma were treated with pomalidomide with or without low-dose dexamethasone (POM+LoDEX).

All 113 patients in the study received lenalidomide, bortezomib and steroids. Most patients had also received prior alkylator therapy, stem cell transplant, and thalidomide. The overall response rate (ORR) was 48% in patients who had received ≤3 therapies and 30% in patients who received >3 prior therapies.

The study found that POM+LoDEX produced an ORR of 34% in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have been previously exposed to lenalidomide, bortezomib, steroids, and other treatments. Patients who received POM+LoDEX early on achieved better ORR compared to those who received POM+LoDEX later.